(BRF) Backgrounder: Economic corridors under Belt and Road Initiative

China will host the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation on May 14 and 15. Following are the economic corridors proposed under the Belt and Road Initiative.

-- China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor

The idea of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC) was proposed by China in September 2014 during the first trilateral meeting of the heads of state of the three countries in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan. On June 23, 2016, the three countries put pen to paper on a development plan for the proposal, the first multilateral cooperation plan to form part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The CMREC has two key traffic arteries: one extends from China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to Hohhot and on to Mongolia and Russia; the other extends from China's Dalian, Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin and Manzhouli to Russia's Chita.

Seven major areas of cooperation are envisaged: transport infrastructure and connectivity; port construction, and customs and border inspection and quarantine services; industrial capacity and investment; trade; cultural and people-to-people exchanges; environmental protection; and cooperation with adjacent regions. Transport is the main focus.

-- New Eurasian Land Bridge

The New Eurasian Land Bridge (NELB) is an international passageway linking the Pacific and the Atlantic. As distinct from the Siberian Landbridge, which goes from Russia's eastern port of Vladivostok through Siberia to Moscow and onward to West European countries, this "second" bridge goes from China's coastal cities of Lianyungang and Rizhao to Holland's Rotterdam and Belgium's Antwerp. The 10,800-kilometer-long rail link runs through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany, and serves more than 30 countries and regions.

To date, several transcontinental rail routes, which showcase the potential of the Belt and Road Initiative, have entered service. These include the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway (reaching Germany's Duisburg via Poland), the Chengdu-Xinjiang-Europe Railway (reaching Poland), and the Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe Railway (reaching Madrid). The construction of associated highways, power transmission lines, and ports is progressing in a steady manner.

-- China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor

The China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor (CCWAEC) links China and the Arabian Peninsula. The vast region it covers generally follows the trajectory of the ancient Silk Road.

The corridor starts from China's Xinjiang and traverses Central Asia before reaching the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Peninsula. It crosses five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and 17 countries and regions in West Asia (including Iran, Saudi Arab and Turkey).

-- China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor

The China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC) extends from China's Pearl River Delta westward along the Nanchong-Guang'an Expressway and the Nanning-Guangzhou High-speed Railway via Nanning and Pingxiang to Hanoi and Singapore.

This land bridge links China with the Indochina Peninsula and crosses the heart of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia. It is expected to boost China's cooperation with the ASEAN countries.

-- China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was proposed by Premier Li Keqiang during a visit to Pakistan in May 2013.

The 3,000-kilometer-long corridor starts from China's Kashgar and ends at Pakistan's Gwadar, and connects the Silk Road Economic Belt in the north and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in the south. It is a trade network of highways, railways, pipelines and optical cables, and a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative.

-- Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor

The proposal for the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIMEC) was unveiled by China and India during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India in May 2013, with the objective of linking the two huge markets of China and India and enhancing regional connectivity.

In December 2013, the first meeting of the BCIMEC joint working group was held in Kunming, and a joint study plan was signed by all parties, leading to the establishment of a mechanism for cooperation among the four governments.

The aforementioned information was published by the New World Press under the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration. Endi