GUANGZHOU, Nov. 29 (Xinhia) -- The Belt and Road Initiative provides new historic opportunities for international trade development, said Song Lihong, Counsel of the General Affairs Department of China’s Ministry of Commerce.
Song made the remarks at the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Forum on International Communication held in Zhuhai, south China’s Guangdong province on November 29.
The first opportunity comes from trade and investment facilitation. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, market integration of relative countries has been enhanced and efficiency of customs clearance has been further improved. Many countries seek to construct various modes of trade arrangements and discuss building free trade zones to improve liberation and facilitation of trade and investment. It is expected to drive the economic integration of Asia and Europe to a higher level and further simulate motivation for trade among the countries.
The second one stems from infrastructure connectivity. As construction of railway, roadway, aviation, electric power, telecommunication, oil pipes and other infrastructure projects goes forward, demand for relative equipments, goods and materials and technology continues to grow, which will provide enormous commercial opportunities for relative companies.
The third one is derived from industrialization and urbanization in relative countries. The initiative has driven up growth of industrial investment among countries along the Belt and Road and this may accelerate industrialization and urbanization of many countries. As a result, market demand will be further expanded and benefit development of international trade.
The fourth one comes from the boom of e-commerce. The Belt and Road Initiative has accelerated spread of information technology, and penetration rates of Internet, smart phones, e-payments have increased in many countries. This will definitely drive the change of traditional trade mode and allow more companies to buy and sell globally and consumers to access to better products and services at lower prices in the global market.
Song noted that four new trends have shown up for China’s foreign trade, which are more balanced development between exports and imports, more balanced development of trade in goods and services, more coordinated development of trade and investment and further development of “click trading”, namely the e-commerce.
In this context, he encouraged more Chinese enterprises to actively explore markets along the Belt and Road for new opportunities and also welcome more foreign companies to come and cultivate Chinese market.
(Edited by Yang Qi, kateqiyang@xinhua.org)
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