Beijing launches its first China-Europe freight train, connecting with Moscow

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a high-quality public good initiated by China and jointly built by all partners, whose benefits are shared by the world. It has attracted the participation of more than three-fourths of the countries in the world and 32 international organizations, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang stressed on Tuesday at a press conference during the ongoing two sessions.

A deal for Myanmar's first wind power project with the participation of a Chinese energy infrastructure company was signed on Wednesday, a major step in bilateral new-energy cooperation, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar said in a statement released on Thursday.

China plays a vital role in international infrastructure buildup, especially under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Foreign envoys have hailed China's overseas infrastructure projects, saying they have brought tangible socioeconomic benefits to local communities by promoting connectivity and creating jobs.

The Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable is set to be launched in Bengaluru on the sidelines of the G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) which will be held on Friday and Saturday. The meeting will bring in key stakeholders to discuss issues that have been impeding a timely debt restructuring process.

Editor's Note: This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global cooperation platform that demonstrates China's vision and provides solutions to the reform of the global governance system and multifaceted challenges. Against this backdrop, the Global Times is publishing a series of interviews with renowned scholars, think tanks, and financial institutions, sharing their insights and understanding of how the initiative has earned global recognition and reshaped global development. This is the first installment in the series.

China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said on Saturday that China is willing to work with Nicaragua to promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and looks forward to moving forward with the negotiation and signing of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), the official website of the ministry read on Monday.

Editor's Note: In 2018, Ecuador joined the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the past five years, the two countries reaped fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation as well as cultural and other exchanges. Recently, the two sides concluded the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations at the technical level. Global Times (GT) reporter Liu Yang conducted an exclusive interview with Carlos Larrea (Carlos), Ambassador of Ecuador to China, in which the Ambassador shared his views on building up China-Ecuador good relations and close partnerships in Latin America, and he highly appreciated China's anti-COVID contribution to the international community in the past years.

Situated in the Amazon basin, 100 kilometers east of Ecuador's capital Quito, the Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) hydroelectric plant, a signature project in South America, and the biggest hydroelectric power station in the country has recently fallen prey to Western smears, as part of a relentless attack by Western media sources on China proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The main difference this time is the change in focus from the alleged "debt trap" to the alleged "construction flaws."

Cracks found in a China-built hydropower plant in Ecuador will not affect its operation and safety, and the plant is safe for its 50-year design life, but some foreign media outlets have produced one-sided reports that do not give the full picture of the situation, the Chinese Embassy in Ecuador told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Editor's Note: This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global cooperation platform that demonstrates China's vision and provides solutions for the reformation of the global governance system and other multifaceted challenges. Reflecting on the development of the BRI over the last decade, there has been no shortage of evidence demonstrating its success, a momentum that relentless Western crackdowns and smears were unable to curtail.

Standing on this monumental juncture, the Global Times is publishing a series of articles to help readers understand the fruitful journey of the BRI over the last decade from multiple perspectives, and how the initiative will positively commence over the year. This is the first installment in the series, examining the impressive development of the China-Europe freight train.

The phase one of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters, a China-aided project, was completed on Wednesday, with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang - who's on a seven-day visit to Africa - and Moussa Faki Mahamat, African Union Commission chairperson, attending the ceremony.

Echoing increasing cooperation between China and Nepal, a new international airport built by a Chinese company with Chinese loans was inaugurated in Nepal on Sunday, with officials from both countries hailing the project as a major success of bilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The renovation and expansion project of St. John's Harbor, a project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework between China and Antigua and Barbuda, has recently been completed, CCTV reported. Upon its completion, the port is able to host multiple container ships and cruise ships simultaneously, transforming it into a real transport hub for the region.

A discussion of shift to use Chinese yuan in China-Saudi oil settlement is increasingly rising recently amid an ongoing visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the country - the trip marks epoch-making milestone in China-Arab relation and also raises hopes for a more deepened energy tie for years to come.

"Seek knowledge even if you have to go as far as China."

The China-Laos Railway has carried a total of 8.5 million passenger trips and 11.2 million tons of cargos as of Friday on its first anniversary, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by China Railway.

Chile Week, the largest promotional event of the Chilean products in China, celebrated its seventh edition at the Chilean Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday, an important milestone for bilateral trade ties, which have blossomed under the two-way Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the first of its kind between China and a Latin-American country, combined with the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

China-Laos-Thailand high-speed railway is expected to play an important role in enhancing regional connectivity, further slashing transportation time and cost from the current level, a senior Thai researcher stated.

China and Thailand are close friendly neighbors, with a popular belief in both countries that the two people are as close as family. As China's comprehensive strategic cooperative partner, Thailand is located in the center of Southeast Asia and is connected to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members by sea and land, holding an important strategic position in promoting the framework cooperation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" between the two countries has achieved fruitful results, and major cooperation projects such as the China-Thailand railway, the landmark project which represents the high-quality construction of the BRI, have made solid progress. The project will also be Thailand's first standard-gauge railway, which marks a new era for the two sides jointly building a community of a shared future not only between China and Thailand but for the entire region.This is the fourth in a series of articles scoping the developing of the BRI in ASEAN members.

The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR), which connects Indonesia's capital Jakarta and its fourth-largest city Bandung, is a landmark project under the BRI and an example of the practical cooperation between China and Indonesia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road - an important component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - back in 2013 during a state visit to Indonesia. The alignment of the proposal with Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum strategy has witnessed robust growth of bilateral economic cooperation in recent years, demonstrating great resilience and vitality. China has become the largest trade partner for Indonesia for nine consecutive years, while Chinese enterprises' investment has made remarkable contribution to local development.

From November 14 to 17, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. Back in a 2013 visit to Indonesia, Xi proposed that the two countries jointly build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which together with the Silk Road Economic Belt, makes up the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Since then, BRI has been advancing at a remarkable speed, playing an increasingly crucial role in supporting the economic development of ASEAN, the world's fifth largest economy.

At Pailin province in western Cambodia, local farmers have come to their busiest time of the year as the harvest time of longan has just begun in October and can last until May next year. Different from any other time, Pailin, the country's major production base for longan, has secured big orders against the backdrop of a new deal inked between China and Cambodia on October 27, marking the official debut of Cambodian longan export to China, its largest market for agricultural products, after banana and mango.

China and Pakistan will expand cooperation in key areas of trade, investment, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture and IT, Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque told the Global Times in an exclusive interview over the weekend, ahead of the official visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China starting on Tuesday.

The Hunutlu Thermal Power Plant, the largest China-invested power plant in Turkey, is now fully operational after construction started in September 2019. The modern power plant will be managed and operated by China.

With the last 900-ton simple girder falling steadily into place on the No 24 bridge of Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway on Sunday, the task of erecting box girders on the whole rail line was successfully completed with the 13 tunnels fully opened, laying a solid foundation for the completion and opening to traffic of the landmark railway in June 2023, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Mongolia and China share a border of more than 4,700 kilometers, and both countries are strategic partners and friendly and good-neighboring countries, exemplified by the fact that China has been Mongolia's largest source of investment and trading partner for 18 consecutive years. On September 15, the heads of China, Mongolia and Russia extended the Outline of the Development Plan on Establishing the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor by five years in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, unleashing greater potentials for the regional prosperity while upgrading Mongolia's role as a transit hub between the East and the West.

In 2013, China put forward the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), aimed at building a new platform for international cooperation and creating new momentum for shared development. And the investment under the BRI is constantly interconnecting with Europe, including North Europe.

With the launch of a cargo train from the Port of Qinzhou in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Lhasa in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, more and more localities in China are embarking on land-sea multimodal transportation services, which offer faster connections among regional countries.

A cooperation agreement on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway construction project could reportedly be signed at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held from Thursday to Friday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, marking new groundbreaking moment in the development of the long-anticipated rail line after nearly 20 years of negotiation.

the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan draws attention both to bilateral relations and to the context of the international situation in general. Xi's visit to Kazakhstan is perceived as a confirmation of the strategic importance of Kazakhstan for China.

The first shipment of speed railway trains for the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway (HSR) started on Sunday, marking important progress in the construction of the railway, a landmark project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the export of Chinese technology, standards and equipment.

China's development in partnership with the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) has borne fruitful results since the mechanism was first initiated in 2012 with both economic and trade between China and the regional countries recording historic growth under the cooperative mechanism and China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) connecting East and the West, despite the external disruptions linked to multiple factors including the pandemic, trade and political complexity.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), aimed at building a new platform for international cooperation and creating new momentum for shared development. Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC), being part of logistics network that facilitates land connectivity between Asia and Europe, have become a vital component of the mega scheme to date. The BRI also synergized with China-CEEC Cooperation platform, bringing a mutual beneficial cooperation momentum that certain countries' withdrawal was not able to generate an impact.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Africa from Sunday to Friday, and he has already visited South Africa and the DRC, before heading to Rwanda. Blinken's visit to the African continent can be seen as the Biden administration's pivot toward Africa. As the US has considered China as a major competitor, it is normal for many in the world to see Blinken's trip as a counter-China political posturing.

China's high-speed bullet trains for the 142-kilometer Indonesian Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) rolled off the assembly line in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province on Friday. It is China's first high-speed bullet train export with a top speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

Before or around 2013, daily goods such as shoes in Ethiopia were mostly imported from countries including China, due to the inadequate domestic production capacity. But in 2013, China's shoemaker Huajian Group expanded its business in Ethiopia, two years after building the first plant in the country.

China is willing to expand cooperation with Greece in the areas of transportation, energy, finance and the digital economy, promoting flagship projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday.

The judging committee for the first Silk Road Global News Awards (SRGNA) met in Beijing Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by Fang Jiangshan, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of People's Daily and China Director of the judging committee, with other members joining in person or through online means.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), aiming at building a new platform for international cooperation and creating new momentum for shared development. Since then, the BRI has opened a path for high-quality development and common prosperity for countries along the route, becoming a real global platform serving over half of the world's population.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), aiming at building a new platform for international cooperation and creating new momentum for shared development. Since then, the BRI has opened a path for high-quality development and common prosperity for countries along the route, becoming a real global platform serving over half of the world's population.

The G7 Summit was concluded last week. It didn't reach a consensus because of the autocratic stance of the US on various policies. The outcome was not very positive, as it is challenged by internal disagreements over trade and climate policies. The G7 discussions focused on reducing Europe's dependence on Russian energy and finding other ways to increase the economic pain for Moscow; the group is considering imposing a price cap on Russian oil. Additionally, the bloc faces a looming global food crisis springing from the Russia-Ukraine tensions, which have resulted in shortages of wheat and other crops. The G7 countries failed to reach a consensus on these issues. External dynamics have also chipped away at the G7's global influence.

China Railway said on Friday that it has built a track change station at the Vientiane south station along the China-Laos Railway, a move expected to attract more than 300,000 tons of agricultural products and rubber from Thailand to China each year, and further improve the efficiency of international transport between China and ASEAN members.

A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry on Monday refuted G7 officials' claims of “debt trap” created by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and warned against geopolitical calculations under the banner of infrastructure building, following the G7's $600 billion plan reportedly aimed at countering the China-proposed BRI.

A number of Chinese-invested projects in South Asia have recently entered the delivery phase, as Bangladesh's largest Padma Bridge opened to traffic on Saturday, showing what Chinese experts described as Chinese firms' steady performance in project delivery when not facing political barriers and security risks.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), aiming at building a new platform for international cooperation and creating new momentum for shared development. Since then, the BRI has opened a path for high quality development and common prosperity for countries along the route, becoming a real global platform serving more than half of the world's population.

China will remain a strategically important market for Wabtec, which has "absolutely no plans" of moving out, a representative from the US company said, noting that the firm has full confidence in the nation, while also seeing mass opportunities brought by the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

A new natural gas project between China and Turkmenistan has begun operations, which is set to further boost bilateral economic ties in areas including energy and infrastructure, help ensure China's energy supply amid rising energy prices and diversify China's sources of energy imports against the backdrop of global uncertainties.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), aiming at building a new platform for international cooperation and creating new momentum for shared development. Since then, the BRI has opened a path for high-quality development and common prosperity for countries along the route, becoming a real global platform serving over half of the world's population.

Trains run through the New Land-Sea Corridor in Western China carried 310,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods from January to May, up about 38 percent year-on-year, showing a strong growth trend for the trade and logistics passage between western Chinese provincial regions and Southeast Asia, China Railway, the operator, said in a statement to the Global Times.

China and Latin America are “getting closer both politically and economically”, which benefits the economies and people of both sides, Victor Cadena, executive vice president of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in China (MEXCHAM), told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has made steady progress in Latin America during the past three years, which has brought concrete benefits to partner economies with its people centered approach, Chinese experts said on Wednesday.

In recent years, China-Micronesia bilateral ties have seen rapid development, with pragmatic cooperation expanding in a wide range of areas. Ahead of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's "cloud visit" to Micronesia, Global Times (GT) reporter Yin Yeping had an exclusive interview with Chinese Ambassador to Micronesia Huang Zheng (Huang) on current bilateral ties and the prospect for future cooperation.

The second Silk Road Friendship Award Ceremony, co-hosted by the China International Culture Exchange Centre and Global People magazine affiliated with the People's Daily, was successfully held on Tuesday. The ceremony gathered more than 500 participants from different countries to share their stories via a virtual meeting on how they have taken part in, contributed to, and benefited from the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).

Papua New Guinea is the first country in the South Pacific to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises under the BRI have led to fruitful benefits for local people - higher living standards, more jobs and skilled training.

In recent years, cooperation between China and Papua New Guinea (PNG) has seen rapid progress, especially after the South Pacific island nation became the first in the region to sign a MOU on the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China. As Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting regional countries, including PNG, China's Ambassador to PNG Zeng Fanhua (Zeng) shared his views on the current China-PNG ties, future prospects for cooperation and external meddling with Global Times (GT) reporter Shen Weiduo.

Chinese enterprises' humanitarian aid to South Pacific island nation Tonga in the face of natural disasters and the pandemic has demonstrated the genuine friendship between China and South Pacific countries and given the world an example of building a community with a shared future for mankind, Chinese businesses said, amid Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's ongoing visit to the region.

China and Fiji have a huge potential for pragmatic cooperation in a wide range of areas, including climate change, agriculture and infrastructure, despite geopolitical attempts by certain countries to undermine China-Fiji ties, Chinese businesses and experts said, after Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited the country over the weekend.

As Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi embarks his official visit to Kiribati on Friday, many expect a new impetus the journey can bring to the bilateral ties to heighten cooperation into a higher level for better serving local people's demand for development. Since the resumption of diplomatic ties in September 2019, China-Kiribati relations have got off to a good start and achieved fruitful results. In a recent exclusive interview with the Global Times (GT) reporters Hu Yuwei and Bai Yunyi, Chinese Ambassador to Kiribati Tang Songgen (Tang) shared his views on the most impressive progress in friendship of two countries over past two years, and warned some Western countries to stop groundless smearing and interference over China-Kiribati development.

China and Sri Lanka have long maintained a close relationship of mutual support and understanding, regardless of how the international situation changes. In recent years, the two countries have seen steady development in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, especially under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

While the world faces uncertainty amid  COVID-19 outbreaks and geopolitical crisis, trade and economic cooperation between China and Cambodia recorded strong growth momentum, achieving noteworthy results, including the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone as well as a vaccine filling plant.

A new international railway route from Southwest China's Chongqing city to Mandalay, southern Myanmar, officially started operation with the first freight train departing from Chongqing on Monday, which will save 20 days compared with the traditional route.

Sri Lanka is grappling with the deepest economic crisis it has ever seen. The country has defaulted on its $78 million worth of payments to international creditors, the first time in its history since its independence. Its debt obligations for this year alone exceed $7 billion, yet Sri Lanka's foreign reserves stood at $1.93 billion at the end of March. The island nation is also seeing an extreme scarcity of food, fuel and other essential items such as medicines, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts.

While the global situation has been under the shadow of the pandemic and the geopolitical conflicts, current bilateral relations, trade and investment cooperation between China and Indonesia is bucking the trend. Major cooperation projects including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are the reflections of the highly synergized connectivity between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Indonesia's national strategy. Global Times (GT) reporter Yin Yeping recently conducted an exclusive interview with Djauhari Oratmangun (Oratmangun), the Indonesian Ambassador to China, to discuss the fruitful results of the bilateral cooperation, the tenacity of the bilateral relationship, and the positive outlook for future ties.

Unit 3 of the Chinese-built Hassyan power plant in Dubai was successfully connected to the grid for the first time on Monday, reflecting closer cooperation between China and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the energy sector.

An expressway built by a Chinese enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, started trial operation on Saturday, the Xinhua News Agency reported, showcasing closer cooperation between China and Kenya under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal and the China-Laos Railway is expected to bring opportunities for Laos manufacturing and give rise to “Made in Laos,” as the railway, a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, has seen five months of successful operation, container transport operator China Railway Container Transport Corp (CRCT) told the Global Times on Friday.

Despite the pandemic in an increasingly complex world, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have seen a strengthened economic and trade ties this year ranging from initiatives under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to the deeply integrated industrial chains, amid joint efforts that have injected strong impetus into regional development.

Despite the cancellation of Chinese-invested solar power projects by Myanmar authorities, most Chinese companies are confident of the investment prospects in Myanmar, though some have expressed concerns about whether political volatility may cast shadows on their businesses there.

Europe was the top destination for China's overseas merger and acquisition (M&A) deals by both value and volume in the first quarter this year, after falling behind Asia for three consecutive quarters, according to a new report by consulting firm Ernst & Young.

Some Chinese enterprises operating in Sri Lanka said on Tuesday that their businesses and personnel in the South Asian country have been generally safe and undisrupted, though they have taken contingency plans to protect projects and employees, amid a deteriorating political turmoil in the country after Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced his resignation on Monday.

The US, Australia and their Western allies have long been conspiring a systematic, top-down smear campaign targeting China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in the Pacific islands, and these attacks culminated in recent days with the signing of an open, transparent security pact between China and the Solomon Islands– a Pacific nation which the US and Australia treated as their “vassals” under hegemony mindset.

Chinese businesses in Pakistan are operating without disruption, though they are ramping up precautions to ensure the safety of personnel and projects in accordance with official guidelines, after a terrorist attack in Karachi killed three Chinese nationals on Tuesday afternoon.

​China is neither the only creditor nor the largest creditor of Sri Lanka. The so-called debt trap theory fabricated by some foreign media outlets is completely untrue, according to Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka.

A new marine passenger station at Angola's Cabinda Port was completed on Friday local time, which undergone a six-year construction by a Chinese enterprise.

On April 11, Pakistan's parliament elected Shahbaz Sharif as the country's new prime minister. As the new leader took office, relations between China and Pakistan are set to enter a heyday leveraging a long track-record of deep harmony.

During the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's recent visit of to Nepal in March, he stated to the Nepali Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka three supports from China for Nepal - supporting Nepal to pursue a development path that suits its own national conditions, to pursue an independent domestic and foreign policy, and to more deeply participate in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As Sri Lanka's economic crisis and Pakistan's political turmoil deepen, the smearing by Western and Indian forces against the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has reached new heights, with some maliciously asserting that the "Chinese strategic trap" under BRI has dragged the South Asian countries into the political and economic abyss.

China and Serbia are "iron brothers" and comprehensive strategic partners. As one of the first countries to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China, Serbia is also among the very first to benefit from the infrastructure partnership. From railways to telecommunications, the achievements of China-Serbia cooperation have continued to be a benchmark for success, bringing significant benefits to the two peoples and bilateral trade. While the external situation is becoming increasingly complex, on the basis of solid political mutual trust and public opinion, the bilateral relationship is only becoming more solid and sustainable. In an exclusive interview with the Global Times reporter Yin Yeping (GT) , Tian Yishu, Chargé d'Affaires of China's Embassy to Serbia addressed how the bilateral ties remain strong despite the complex global landscape.

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) – providing jobs to local communities and increasing infrastructure connectivity of the region – have been gaining momentum over the past week, with industry players looking forward to another year of cooperation and delivery between China and CEE countries.

Officials from both Serbia and Hungary held an inauguration ceremony to celebrate the start of the operation of a section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway, a flagship project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to a news release on the website of China's Embassy in Serbia.

Government officials, railway service providers and international traders are putting in place contingency measures to ensure smooth operation and trade flow of the China-Europe freight train, a key transportation channel for trade covering countries along the routes of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), amid the deteriorating situation in Europe.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy to Cambodia responded to the sanctions, condemning the US for imposing sanctions on a Chinese firm in Cambodia, saying that the US is violating the firm's legitimate rights and Cambodia's sovereignty.

Recently, Zhao Yipu, the Global Times' special correspondent in Kathmandu (GT), had the opportunity to talk with the President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari (Bhandari), who is the first woman leader to have been elected to the country's highest office. In the interview with GT, she talked about the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, her understanding of the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China, as well as China-Nepal cooperation based on the Belt and Road Initiative.

Fostering further cooperation between China and countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was among hot topics during the ongoing two sessions in China, including proposals on infrastructure, high technology, nuclear energy, vaccines and advanced medicine.

As sanctions by a number of Western countries against Russia pile up, Zhang Hong, a Chinese grain trader specializing in trade between China and Russia, is watching the situation closely, as many businesses around the world do.

The China-Laos Railway's first special train for enterprises cleared customs quickly at Mohan Port in Southwest China's Yunnan Province on Saturday afternoon, with 70 standard containers and a total cargo value of more than 4.1 million yuan ($649,000), China Media Group reported.

Chinese companies have steadily pushed forward the construction of projects in Africa, as China and Africa step up cooperation in the new year in traditional areas including infrastructure and agriculture, as well as in emerging sectors like vaccine donations to fight against COVID-19.

The EU-Africa summit in Brussels concluded last week, following 18 months of patience due to the pandemic. A joint declaration titled “a joint vision for 2030” was issued afterwards, including a 150-billion-euro investment package and a major investment for Africa over the next seven years under EU's Global Gateway scheme.

A China-Europe freight train left from Liuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Moscow, Russia on Tuesday. This marks the first operation of the Liuzhou-Moscow freight train since China and Russia signed a mutual agreement to facilitate customs clearance for enterprises.

The new headquarters building of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the tallest building in East Africa built by Chinese contractors, was officially completed on Sunday, as the two countries continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the new year.

China's commitments to infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa impressively dwarf that of the West, according to new study findings, speaking convincingly to the actual achievements of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that builds bridges between different parts of the world.

Since President Xi Jinping proposed the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt in Kazakhstan in 2013, China has signed cooperation documents with 140 countries and 32 international organizations under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by 2021. Investment and trade between China and the Central Asia community has been boosted by fruitful projects ranging from energy to transportation under the BRI.

At the beginning of January, Morocco signed an accord with China facilitating the joint implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), making it the first North African country to do so. More nations in Africa are closely examining the new BRI implementation plan, with a view to developing similar plans of their own. Morocco's geopolitical position, combined with China's rising global influence and economic success are injecting new energy into the global south cooperation framework.

As the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has created new opportunities for economic growth and stability via a number of projects that are in full swing across the South Asian country, many third-country investors are also showing interest in the project.

Conceived in 2013, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) enters its ninth year in 2022. In an exclusive interview, The Global Times' reporter Chu Daye spoke with Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque, recapping the development of the CPEC over recent years and delving into the latest progress regarding third-party cooperation and a plan for phase-two development of the CPEC.

In an exclusive interview, The Global Times' Li Xuanmin talked with Wang Weidong, minister and chief of the Economic and Commercial Department at the Chinese Embassy in Germany, on issues ranging from political and economic cooperation to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation.

As the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) will take effect at the end of this week, as agreed upon, the business community is awaiting the prospect and potential of the landmark regional trade pact, which is widely believed to greatly boost economic development in the region, and foster trade between China and the ASEAN, China's largest trading partner.