BEIJING -- The "Belt and Road" construction has opened a new pattern of China's foreign trade. With the deepening of the initiative, trade between China and countries along the "Belt and Road" is getting better, according to experts at the recent 2016 Boao Forum for Entrepreneurs.
Although 2016 is halfway, the global trade still fails to get out of trouble. However, it is worth noting that the "Belt and Road" linking the Asia-Pacific economic circle and the European economic circle bucks the trend and injects a new growth impetus to the trade exchanges for countries and regions along the "Belt and Road", said experts.
Data of the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed that China is the largest source of imports of 17 countries along the "Belt and Road" and the largest destination of exports of nine countries along the "Belt and Road". In 2015, the bilateral trade volume between China and the countries along the "Belt and Road" reached 995.5 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for more than a quarter of the country's total trade volume.
Some experts expected China's exports to the countries along the "Belt and Road" to account for more than one third of its total exports in the coming decade, which will surely create more opportunities for the domestic enterprises.
China's foreign investments under the Belt and Road Initiative concentrate mainly on the infrastructure and equipment fields. In the meantime, new competitive advantages are emerging constantly. In particular, the cross-border e-commerce has grown fast.
At the forum, many traditional enterprises shifted their focus to the cross-border e-commerce to help their "Going Global".
China's liquor maker Luzhou Laojiao is also actively promoting its cross-border e-commerce platform and accelerating the integration of the mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things with the physical wine industry.
Despite the new situation in China's foreign trade, the differentiated economic development levels and cultural systems, and possibly new trade frictions have also brought new tests to the regulators.
Some experts pointed out that the customs and commodity inspection departments have to adopt the inspection system adapting to the new trade pattern and make innovation in the system.
It is urgent to realize the trade convenience among countries along the "Belt and Road". The smooth trade under the "Belt and Road" needs to resolve problems including backward infrastructure, obstructed logistics channel, and non-trade barriers, said Cai Junwei, an official of the GAC.
With the constant deepening of trade under the Belt and Road Initiative, the countries along the "Belt and Road" would gradually build a new pattern of free trade. Under the circumstances of the rapid development of the service trade and the obvious increase in trade protection, it is necessary to build a free trade zone network, said Chi Fulin, president of the think tank China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD).
Chi suggested that the multilateral, bilateral, regional and global free trade zones can be built in the countries along the "Belt and Road". China can also build the energy economic circle with some central European countries, and the tourism economic circle with some Asian and European countries.
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