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Int'l leaders optimistic about Belt and Road prospects

china.org.cn / chinagate.cn by Chen Boyuan, September 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

The State Council Information Office (SCIO), principal organizer for the International Seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative, held a reception banquet for participants on Sept. 26 in Xi'an.

The State Council Information Office (SCIO), principal organizer for the International Seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative, held a reception banquet for participants on Sept. 26 in Xi'an. [China.org.cn]

The projects of the Belt and Road Initiative will enable faster economic growth in many countries in Asia and Europe, providing the impulse to strengthen the world economy as a whole. This was the consensus of guests attending an International Seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, on Sept. 26.

This confidence is mostly based on China's extensive investments in countries along the Belt and Road. Commerce Ministry data shows China has already established more than 50 economic and trade cooperative zones, with investment totaling US$15.6 billion, creating up to 70,000 jobs and over US$900 million in tax revenues.

Building necessary infrastructure will strengthen the economies of all the countries surrounding the Belt and Road, and a "more efficient economy of those countries and regions will increase the standard of living there," said Jiri Paroubek, former prime minister of the Czech Republic and former chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party.

He believed the new infrastructure development would lead to the expansion of the middle class in the countries concerned, a trend generally seen as stabilizing a national situation.

"This will be an excellent factor in increasing the purchasing power of inhabitants and provide new impetus for the growth of production and services, meaning economic development of these countries, the entire region and the world," he said.

In his opinion, countries that have achieved economic progress will wish to keep such prosperity and cooperation long-term, which will help eliminate tensions and struggles between states.

While the Belt and Road Initiative will transfer some of China's excessive industrial capacity, the enhanced link between China and the world will also see additional billion dollars' worth of Chinese imports particularly from Central and Eastern Europe.

"It means a noticeably higher employment rate in Poland, higher incomes in Ukraine, growing profits in Czech Republic," said Grzegorz W. Kolodko, former vice prime minister of Poland. Likewise, the additional billions to be spent by tourists in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, countries stuck in financial difficulties, would improve their situations.

In the first eight months of this year, the trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road exceeded US$600 billion, accounting for 26 percent of the former's total trade volume. At the same time, China's direct investment in the various countries almost reached US$10 billion, and the value for newly-contracted projects reached US$70 billion, up 28.3 percent year on year, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.