​The Belt and Road cooperation demonstrates remarkable resilience

The Belt and Road cooperation demonstrates remarkable resilience

As of now, China has signed 201 cooperation documents on jointly building the Belt and Road with 138 countries and 31 international organizations, and positive progress has been made in all aspects of work. First, it has helped stabilize the basic foreign trade and foreign investment. Second, major projects have made new progress. Third, the China-Europe Railway Express has grown against the trend. Fourth, the Health Silk Road has made new breakthroughs. However, it should also be noted that with the global spread of the epidemic, many sea and air cargoes are accelerating their transfer to railway transportation, and the growth of the China-Europe Railway Express cannot keep up with the increasing demand. On November 17th, at the regular press conference held by the National Development and Reform Commission in November, Meng Wei, the spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, made the above introduction.

Since the beginning of this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a global epidemic, accelerating the evolution of major changes unseen in a century in the world. The factors of instability and uncertainty in world economic development have significantly increased, posing new challenges to the high-quality advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative. However, it should also be noted that thanks to the rapid recovery of China's economy and its proactive opening up to the outside world, as well as the solid foundation laid over the past seven years, in the face of the impact of the pandemic this year, an international organization recently signed a cooperation document with China to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative.

Meng Wei stated that China will adhere to the principle of joint construction, joint consultation, and shared benefits, and continue to solidly promote the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, aiming to achieve common development and prosperity with relevant countries. To ensure the continuous, stable, and safe operation of the China-Europe Railway Express, the National Development and Reform Commission, in collaboration with relevant departments and localities, is fully committed to enhancing the transportation capacity and efficiency of the China-Europe Railway Express. Firstly, we will strengthen the construction of key ports, expand and renovate the Manzhouli Station, Erlianhaote Station, and Alataw Pass Station to improve the receiving, dispatching, and transloading capabilities of container trains. Secondly, we will promote the upgrading and reconstruction of the "bottleneck" sections of the west, central, and east routes of the China-Europe Railway Express, actively open up new overseas routes for the China-Europe Railway Express, and promote the diversification of transportation channels. Thirdly, we will accelerate the construction of demonstration projects for the assembly centers of the China-Europe Railway Express, support the improvement of collection and distribution facilities, enhance the efficiency of transportation organization, and strive to achieve "transit assembly" and "immediate dispatch upon arrival".