In the autumn of 2013, during President Xi Jinping's visit to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, he successively proposed the joint construction of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", which together constitute a major initiative of the "Belt and Road".
Over the past eight years, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, my country has made overall plans to promote high-quality development, build a new development pattern, and jointly build the "Belt and Road", adhere to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and promote the joint construction of the "Belt and Road." "High-quality development, the construction of the "Belt and Road" has become an important practice platform for building a community with a shared future for mankind, opening up a development path to common prosperity for all countries.
In the past two days, the domestic section of the China-Laos Railway started trial operation, and the Laos section will also be opened before the end of the year.
The China-Laos Railway is a landmark project linking the "Belt and Road" initiative and Laos' national development strategy. After it is opened to traffic, it will reach Kunming from Vientiane to Kunming, building a more convenient international channel for the exchanges between ASEAN countries.
Like the China-Laos Railway, the connectivity of facilities in countries along the “Belt and Road” is more efficient.
Significant major projects such as China-Thailand Railway, Hungary-Serbia Railway, Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor have made positive progress.
The joint construction of the “Belt and Road” is a major international cooperation initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping, focusing on the general trend of the times and using a historical perspective on the “questions of the times” facing the world.
For more than eight years, President Xi Jinping has thought deeply and made far-reaching plans.
From drawing up a blueprint for cooperation on policy communication, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial connectivity, and people-to-people connections, to focusing on key points, deep cultivation and meticulous work, and jointly drawing meticulous and delicate "meticulous paintings", to the steady development of health, green, digital, and innovation Cooperation in other new fields, fostering new growth points for cooperation.
The construction of the "Belt and Road" is booming and luxuriant, and it is constantly advancing along the direction of high-quality development. It has become the world's widest and largest international cooperation platform and the most popular international public product.
Today, my country has signed more than 200 cooperation documents for the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” with 140 countries and 32 international organizations, and established more than 90 bilateral cooperation mechanisms; it has signed third-party market cooperation documents with 14 countries including Japan and Italy. The "Belt and Road" circle of friends is getting bigger and bigger, the international influence continues to increase, and the quality of cooperation is getting higher and higher.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund were established and played an important role. The diversified investment and financing system was gradually improved. my country's non-financial direct investment in countries along the route exceeded 140 billion U.S. dollars.
Trade has become more smooth. As of September 2021, the total volume of trade in goods between my country and countries along the route has reached 10.4 trillion U.S. dollars.
In the face of the new crown pneumonia epidemic that is raging around the world, the "Belt and Road" cooperation has not only failed to press the "pause button", but has moved forward against the wind.
In the first 10 months of this year, the total import and export volume between my country and the countries along the “Belt and Road” increased by more than 23%, and the number and volume of China-Europe express trains exceeded the total volume of 2020.
Today, 73 operating routes reach 175 cities in 23 European countries, achieving fast customs clearance without stopping for the first time, and the capacity of Xi'an and other places has increased by more than 20%.
In Pakistan, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has brought in a total of US$25.4 billion in direct investment and created many jobs.
In Bangladesh, the solar street light system that China helps to build and can remotely troubleshoot has covered several large cities, not only improving the local lighting conditions, but also promoting the use of clean energy in the local area.
The results of the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” are benefiting the people of all countries along the route.