China deepens economic development & trade cooperation under BRI in 2021

Photo taken on April 24, 2021 shows the Chinese-built Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya. (Xinhua/Li Yan)

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- In 2021, economic and trade cooperation between China and the countries along Belt and Road routes was further strengthened, high-quality development of the joint construction of the Belt and Road was promoted, and solid achievements have been made.

-- Closer trade links

In 2021, trade volume between China and countries along Belt and Road routes reached 11.6 trillion yuan, a record high in the past eight years, with a year-on-year increase of 23.6 percent and accounting for 29.7 percent of China's total foreign trade. 

New forms of foreign trade such as cross-border e-commerce have developed rapidly, and a number of overseas warehouses have been built and put into operation.

Last year, the first overseas smart logistics platform that connects supply and demand of overseas warehouses was officially launched. A total of 15,000 China-Europe freight trains were launched throughout the year, transporting 1.46 million TEUs, up 22 percent and 29 percent year on year respectively. The construction of the new land-sea corridor has been accelerated, China and Singapore signed a cooperation plan and jointly held the CCI-International Land Sea Trade Corridor (CCI-ILSTC) Cooperation Forum in 2021.

-- Rapid growth in outbound investment

In 2021, China's direct investment in countries along the Belt and Road route was 138.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.9 percent, accounting for 14.8 percent of China's total outbound investment. For the first time, direct investment from Belt and Road countries in China exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars, standing at 11.25 billion U.S. dollars.

In terms of infrastructure investment, China advanced engineering projects construction in Belt and Road countries steadily. Chinese enterprises have completed a turnover of 578.57 billion yuan in contracted projects in Belt and Road countries, accounting for 57.9 percent of the total foreign contracted projects.

A number of key projects, such as Kenyan Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway and Russian Moscow Metro project have been completed.

(Contributed by Wei Wei and Zeng Zheng from Academy of Macroeconomic Research, NDRC, and Zhang Siwen from Xinhua News Agency, edited by Bao Nuomin with Xinhua Silk Road, baonuomin@xinhua.org)