Chongqing - On October 18, Chinese President Xi Jinping said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) he proposed, noting that the BRI aims to enhance policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity, inject new impetus into the global economy, create new opportunities for global development, and build a new platform for international economic cooperation, according to Xinhua.
President Xi announced eight major steps China will take to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in a keynote speech at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) opening ceremony.
First, China will build a multidimensional Belt and Road connectivity network. Second, China will support an open world economy. Third, China will carry out practical cooperation for the BRI. Fourth, China will continue to promote green development. Fifth, China will continue to advance scientific and technological innovation. Sixth, China will support people-to-people exchanges. Seventh, China will promote integrity-based Belt and Road cooperation. Eighth, China will strengthen the institutional building for international Belt and Road cooperation.
The president said the country will speed up the high-quality development of the China-Europe Railway Express, participate in the trans-Caspian international transportation corridor, and host the China-Europe Railway Express Cooperation Forum.
He noted that China and other parties will build a new logistics corridor across the Eurasian continent linked by direct railway and road transportation.
"We will vigorously integrate ports, shipping, and trading services under the 'Silk Road Maritime' and accelerate the building of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the Air Silk Road," he said.
ILSTC connects 473 ports in 120 countries and regions
The China-Europe Railway Express, initially piloted in Chongqing in 2011 with just 17 trains operated that year, has witnessed explosive growth since the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. It reached 16,000 trains by 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 80.2%. It has become the most dynamic trade route between China and Europe.
As of the end of 2022, the China Railway Express to Europe connects 108 cities within China and 208 cities in 25 European countries, forming three major routes in the "East, Central, and West" directions by departing through four major border crossings: Manzhouli, Erenhot, Alashankou, and Khorgos, and seamlessly integrating with the railway networks of Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Europe.
Chongqing holds a strategically important position in the establishment of a new structure of all-out opening-up in the new era. Up to this point, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) has connected 473 ports in 120 countries and regions worldwide.
In the first nine months of 2023, Chongqing transported 126,000 standard containers through the ILSTC, marking a 19% year-on-year increase. Chongqing's share in the total cargo transported along the route has consistently remained around 27%. By the end of September, the cumulative cargo transported through this passage reached 546,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), totaling 90.65 billion yuan.
Under the impetus of Chongqing, more than ten cities from Belt and Road Initiative partner countries have become new destinations along the ILSTC in just over a year, including cities like Laem Chabang in Thailand, Yangon in Myanmar, and Almaty in Kazakhstan.
To advance the development of Chongqing as an inland open highland, the city capitalizes on its advantageous industries, such as automobiles and electronics, to vigorously promote imports and exports, particularly focusing on the Belt and Road markets with an emphasis on ASEAN countries.