Anti-pandemic cooperation further expands Belt and Road cooperation
By
Cheng Shijie, People's Daily
Although
the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak has struck at global economic and
trade cooperation, trade and exchanges under China's Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI) still secured progress.
During
the first quarter of 2020, China's trade with countries along the Belt and Road
increased by 3.2 percent, 9.6 percentage points higher than the overall growth
rate of China's foreign trade volume, said Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National
Development and Reform Commission, during a May 24 press conference held by the
State Council Information Office.
On
that same day, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi underscored the
importance of the Belt and Road cooperation in combating the pandemic at a
press conference on China's foreign policy and diplomatic relations.
Evidence
suggests that the pandemic has strengthened, not restrained, the cooperation
under the BRI framework.
Chinese
factories have operated at full capacity to make high-quality medical supplies
and equipment that are badly needed around the world, exporting 56.8 billion
surgical masks and 250 million protective gowns, among other provisions, Wang
noted.
To
date, China has shipped medical supplies to nearly 150 countries and four
international organizations to meet their immediate needs and sent 26 expert
teams to 24 countries to provide timely information and in-person guidance,
according to Wang.
Besides,
China's initiative of building a Silk Road of Health is being responded by more
and more countries.
Infrastructure
and public well-being projects under the BRI have played an important role for
partner countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The energy projects along the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC), for one, have remained operation during the outbreak
and generated one third of Pakistan's electricity.
When
flights were largely grounded by the pandemic, the trips made by and the cargo
volume of the China-Europe freight trains grew 24 percent and 27 percent,
respectively in the January-April period from a year earlier.
The
rail cargo service has transported nearly 8,000 tons of anti-pandemic materials,
becoming a "way of life" on the Eurasian continent.
Ning
pointed out that the regular epidemic prevention and control has highlighted
the role of new economic and trade models, including cross-border e-commerce,
online exhibition, online investment attraction and cloud videos.
He
also pointed out that China will promote cooperation with Belt and Road
countries in the fields such as big data, Internet plus and smart cities, to jointly
build a digital Silk Road.
Even
since the BRI was proposed in 2013, an increasing number of countries have
participated in the construction of the initiative. Highways and railways,
bridges and tunnels, factories and industrial parks, as well as hospitals and
schools are being built massively in participating countries. As a Chinese
saying goes, "Nothing, not even mountains and oceans, can separate people
with shared goals and vision."
The
Belt and Road construction is still full of opportunities, with countries
continuously expanding new areas of cooperation. It is believed that countries
will be more motivated to develop economy and improve the living standards of
the people after the pandemic, with increasing demands for the cooperation in
public health.
A vessel
serving Belt and Road countries is berthed at the Ningbo Zhoushan Port, east
China's Zhejiang province, May 7. (By Yaofeng, People's Daily Online)
Anti-pandemic cooperation further expands Belt and Road cooperation
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