China promotes the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” to create development opportunities for inland areas

On November 16, visitors visited and purchased food at the Indonesian booth at the 7th Silk Road Expo.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shao Rui

Xinhua News Agency, Xi’an, November 19. Title: China promotes the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” to create development opportunities for inland areas

Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhang Sijie and Lei Xiaoxiao

It has signed more than 200 cooperation documents on the Belt and Road Initiative with 152 countries and 32 international organizations, formed more than 3,000 cooperation projects, and mobilized nearly US$1 trillion in investment… In the past ten years, China and the countries co-building the Belt and Road Initiative have We have created “national landmarks” and “people’s livelihood projects” one after another, and achieved tangible and heavy results.

With the theme of “Economic and Trade Expansion, Interconnection, Mutual Benefit and Win-Win”, the 7th Silk Road International Expo and China’s East-West Cooperation, Investment and Trade Fair recently opened in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. More than 50 people from Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, etc. Guests from countries and regions gathered together to discuss, build and share new opportunities for international cooperation.

Representatives and entrepreneurs from participating countries believe that through the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, China and the co-building countries have effectively expanded economic and trade exchanges and interconnection, and promoted economic globalization in a more open, inclusive, universally beneficial, and win-win direction.

On November 16, visitors visited Azerbaijan’s alcohol and beverage products at the 7th Silk Road Expo.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shao Rui

In the international exchange exhibition area of ​​this year’s Silk Road Expo, pomegranate juice, pomegranate wine and other products featuring “Made in Azerbaijan” attracted many consumers. Azerbaijan is one of the main producing areas of pomegranates. This fruit was introduced to China more than 2,000 years ago and has flourished in Chang’an for thousands of years.

“This is the first time that Azerbaijani products are exhibited at the Silk Road Expo. We hope to take this opportunity to establish long-term partnerships with Chinese dealers.” Temur Na, Commercial Representative of the Commercial Representative Office of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in China and Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diroglu said that the two countries have long-term cooperation in the fields of construction, energy, logistics, tourism and other fields, and will further unleash the huge potential of Azerbaijani food and beverage products in the Chinese market in the future.

“The practice of jointly building the ‘Belt and Road’ shows that by opening up the connection between the Eurasian continent and the land and sea, the inland is no longer an economic depression with poor blockade, but has become the forefront of promoting economic development.” Wang, President of the China Foreign Affairs University Said Fan.

On November 16, visitors visited Uzbekistan’s booth.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shao Rui

At the 2023 Silk Road International Business Association (Xi’an) Roundtable held during the 7th Silk Road Expo, Milezahemidav Babul Bajilevich, President of the Ukraine-China Foreign Trade and Investment Development Association He said that although Uzbekistan is located in the hinterland of Eurasia, thanks to the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative, the trade volume between Uzbekistan and China in 2022 has exceeded US$9 billion.

“There are currently 1,823 Chinese companies actively doing business in Uzbekistan, of which more than 240 have been newly registered in the past six months. We look forward to more cooperation results between the two countries in green economy and infrastructure construction.” He explain.

During this year’s China-Central Asia Summit, the construction of the Kazakhstan terminal project in cooperation between Xi’an International Port Area and Kazakhstan National Railway Company officially started. Not long ago, the two parties signed a cooperation agreement and jointly witnessed the launch of the China-Kazakhstan Logistics Station Project in Almaty, achieving high-frequency interaction and two-way investment, which will further enhance the operational capabilities of the China-Europe freight train channel.

Mkhitaryan Dawit, Vice Chairman of the Armenia-China Cooperation Development Center and Chief Representative of China, said that the Armenia-China Cooperation Development Center has signed strategic cooperation memorandums of understanding with 57 domestic government agencies, economic and trade associations and organizations, and cooperation projects have reached 28 indivual.

“Since participating in the joint construction of the ‘Belt and Road’ in 2015, the trade volume between Armenia and China has increased nearly three times. We are very optimistic about the Chinese market and development potential.” He said.

[Editor in charge: Xu Dan]