Jimu News:

Economic and trade cooperation is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). What achievements has China made in deepening economic and trade cooperation with its BRI partners in the first quarter? What are the highlights?

Yang Tao:

Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Commerce has thoroughly implemented the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches on BRI cooperation and earnestly implemented the eight major steps to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. It has continued to deepen economic and trade cooperation with BRI partners. Some new progress and achievements have been made in this regard, which are mainly reflected in the following four aspects:

First, economic and trade cooperation got off to a good start. In the first quarter, China's trade in goods with BRI partners exceeded 4.8 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.5%, 0.5 percentage point higher than the overall growth rate of foreign trade, accounting for 47.4% of total imports and exports. In terms of exported goods, there are not only high-tech products related to enterprise production, such as electronic information, instruments, apparatus, and equipment manufacturing, but also consumer products that meet everyday needs, like household appliances and clothing. Regarding imports, we actively share the opportunities of China's enormous market with our BRI partners. China's imports of industrial products from its BRI partners, including energy and mineral products, integrated circuits, and auto parts, continued to increase in the first quarter.

Second, outbound investment saw steady growth. In the first quarter, China's non-financial direct investment in BRI partners reached 54.32 billion yuan, an increase of 12%, accounting for 22.4% of total outbound investment in the same period. China's investment in RCEP countries increased by 33.5%, and its investment in Central and Eastern European countries increased by 41.3%, both significantly higher than the overall growth rate of outbound investment.

Third, for project construction, we have ensured stability while improving quality. In the first quarter, the turnover of China's contracted projects in BRI countries reached 184.6 billion yuan, an increase of 7.9%. Cooperation projects have also become more environmentally friendly. In the first quarter, the turnover from energy conservation and environmental protection projects increased by 18.4%, 12 percentage points higher than the segment's overall revenue growth. For example, we have completed a number of photovoltaic power station projects in the Middle East, West Asia, Central Asia, and other regions, which will provide green and clean energy to the local areas.

Fourth, the development of cooperation mechanisms has accelerated. In terms of free trade agreement negotiations, we successfully held the fifth round of negotiations on Version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) and signed an early harvest arrangement for the China-Honduras Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In terms of cooperation in emerging areas, we signed six memorandums of investment cooperation in green, blue, and other fields with the United Arab Emirates, Angola, and the Maldives. In terms of exhibition platforms, the recently concluded fourth China International Consumer Products Expo and the 135th Canton Fair have attracted many exhibitors from BRI partners. Exhibitors from BRI partners participating in the Canton Fair increased by 46%, and companies from partner countries accounted for 64% of the participants in the import exhibition of the fair.

Next, we will implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and strive to ensure that the economic and trade cooperation established at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation delivers results. Efforts will also be made to enhance cooperation in trade and investment, project construction, and emerging areas, to provide robust support to deepen and solidify BRI cooperation. Thank you.