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.

China and Cuba have signed a cooperation plan to promote construction of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), injecting momentum for further collaboration by leveraging the complementary advantages of both parties and for cooperation between China and Latin America.

Traders and industry representatives said China-Europe freight train services will experience some manageable disruptions given its booming demand and mature service and facilities, in response to recent speculation about the possible abolition of government subsidies for cross-border cargo trains next year.

The Sri Lankan Ambassador to China, Palitha Kohona, brewed local black tea during a livestreaming session over the weekend, and before the fragrance of the tea had spread, nearly 200 bags of tea had been sold. During the live broadcast, a variety of Sri Lankan biscuits, Ceylon black tea and fruit tea on display were snapped up within seconds.

Chinese companies have signed deals to build 1,000 schools in Iraq, a long-stalled construction project, as part of moves to help reconstruct the war-torn Mideast country, local sources confirmed with the Global Times, after the US announced it would formally end its combat mission in Iraq.

Belarus is ready to increase exports to China, boosted by the development of the country's agricultural sector, offering an alternative to Lithuanian products that were previously supplied to China, Belarusian Ambassador to China, Yuri Senko told the Global Times, noting the country will support China in the international arena on all other issues including Taiwan question.

Myanmar has accepted the Chinese yuan as an official settlement currency for border trade with China, in a move that aims to address its shortage of US dollars and other foreign currencies, as the Southeast Asian country faces economic challenges amid political instability, sources close to the matter told the Global Times on Wednesday.

A gas chemical project in Amur, Russia, which attracted investment from a Chinese state-owned enterprise, is progressing well despite the cold winter, and the project represents enhanced energy cooperation between China and Russia.

With the official opening of China-Laos Railway, a landmark, high quality project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese tech firms are tapping into digital cooperation opportunities between the two countries made possible by the mega infrastructure achievement that are increasing the Southeast Asian country's ability to attract investment, create new jobs and accelerate economic growth.

While China and Africa are stepping up their cooperation in traditional areas like infrastructure and agriculture, there are also new opportunities to invest in emerging sectors such as the digital and green economy, climate change and cooperation focusing on economic recovery and the fight against COVID-19.

Being in the crosshairs of Western anti-China forces, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region held a development forum on Monday, with government officials, business leaders and academic researchers coming together, discussing the region's development and its active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

At a Pakistani booth at the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE), Habib-ur-Rehman from Pakistan was busy attaching "sold" tags onto some pink lamps on one of the booth's shelves. These lamps, made from salt mines from Pakistan, will soon hold a place in the homes of the Chinese families who purchased them.

At the COP15 in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, as the host country, China exemplified its commitment to environmental conservation, while pointing out the direction for the future global biodiversity governance, especially among countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In an age when there are more voices than actions when it comes to the implementation of the global commitment to tackle the climate change, especially from developed economies, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become the significant pillar leading the trend of a "green revolution" and has achieved historic progress for sustainable growth, analysts said.

In the wake of global disruptions caused by the coronavirus, the unique role of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in combating the virus and promoting economic recovery for countries along the route has been prominent and evidential, delivering shining results that smash some western slights against the initiative.

The Global Gateway scheme, which some observers believe aims to compete with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is likely inspired by the success of the BRI and will serve to fully demonstrate the effectiveness of Chinese-initiated global infrastructure program, Chinese analysts said on Thursday.

Reports by The Guardian and some other media outlets about protests against the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Gwadar, Pakistan, are untrue, and behind the fake news are some foreign media organizations' deliberate smears of China-Pakistan cooperation, an investigation by the Global Times has found.

More natural gas import contracts have been signed or are likely to be signed over coming months between China and countries throughout the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as gas - one of the cleanest fossil fuels - acts as a bridge from using fossil energy to clean energy to reach carbon neutrality.

The US' crackdown on China's technology sector will not dampen China's cooperation on science and technology innovation with countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China's exports to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) have surged by 25.3 percent on a yearly basis in the first seven months this year, as Chinese experts praised trade with the B&R Initiative regions as a "stabilizer" of China's trade exchanges despite external challenges including the coronavirus.

The operations of Chinese enterprises in Pakistan remain normal with both sides strengthening protection for Chinese nationals, a source close to the matter who asked to remain anonymous told the Global Times at a forum in Beijing on Thursday, adding that the Pakistani military has been providing protection for local Chinese enterprises including his company, and the Chinese embassy in Pakistan has warned Chinese nationals not to go out unless necessary, according to the source.

Goods bound for destinations along the Belt and Road Initiative from Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east China's Zhejiang Province set a record high in the first half of 2021, according to statistics from Zhejiang Port and Navigation Management Center.
 


The G7's newly-hatched "Build Back Better World" (B3W) plan aims to help poor countries build up infrastructure and counter China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

With eyes fixated on China, the just concluded G7 summit in the UK announced an infrastructure plan, aiming to rival the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) adopted and implemented by China.

As projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proceed as scheduled despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are becoming a driving force for economic and trade cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC), industry experts and analysts said on Sunday.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) links Kashi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with Gwadar Port on the southwestern coast of Pakistan, with a total length of 3,000 kilometers between them.

Since being officially launched in 2015, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Belt and Road Initiative's (BRI) flagship project, has begun to bear fruit. As the construction of the CPEC project has come into the new stage of promoting industry and industrial park cooperation, Pakistan is facing new opportunities to fast-track the development of its industries which can help it compete globally.

In a recent story posted in early April, Hindustantimes online said that signs of unease emerging between China and Pakistan over the future of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), citing a report published in Modern Diplomacy. However, experts based in Pakistan told the Global Times a different version of the story.

Chinese photovoltaic companies are ramping up efforts to embrace the low-carbon development trend in countries along the Belt and Road.

Thai transportation authorities and Chinese construction corporations signed a construction agreement for the first phase of the Thailand-China High Speed Rail on Monday, a new step forward for the long-awaited rail project that could link the two Asian countries.

The development of Gwadar Port seen by many as the flagship project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been praised by nations across in the Arabian Sea for its smooth and well-planned operationalization.

China has simplified its visa policy for Chinese citizens and foreigners applying to enter the Chinese mainland who have received China-produced COVID-19 vaccines, which insiders said showed the authorities' confidence in the efficacy and safety of the Chinese vaccines and will facilitate personnel exchanges.

As the pandemic situation in China was brought under control, the number of overseas business activities of Chinese firms has witnessed an increasing trend as companies from different sectors including Hisense, Midea and Sinopec have struck new deals with overseas partners.

The benefits of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) bringing to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is undeniable, experts from the "17+1" economic and trade cooperation mechanism said.

Driven by a resilient global demand for Chinese goods ranging from personal protective equipment (PPE) to home appliances, China-Europe freight trains, which have become a pillar for the trade for countries along the Belt and Road when other transports were disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, have seen record growth in the early two months of the year.

There are some voices in the media questioning whether Chinese lending to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has dried up, citing heavy debts and that South Africa needs free trade deal not BRI.

During the Spring Festival week-long holiday, the operation of China-Europe freight train business remained smooth and unaffected as many trains linking China and countries along the Belt and Road in Europe, West Asia and Central Asia were busy transporting essential manufactured goods, according the China's Ministry of Commerce.

A recent video report by Bloomberg tried to address question of whether a massive new land port on China-Kazakhstan border will help prop up trade bracing some reported negative factors. And an article in the Diplomat magazine expresses concerns over trade efficiency citing a bottleneck on that border, has left thousands of wagons waiting against the backdrop of the pandemic. However, Gulnar Shaimergenova (GS), director of China Studies Center, Kazakhstan, recently shared her insights with Global Times (GT) about significance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the long run.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese engineers and project managers working on the many overseas projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are planning to spend this year's Chinese Lunar New Year at project sites around the globe, giving up what is a major holiday and opportunity for family reunion, to ensure project progress and alleviate burden of domestic epidemic control efforts at home.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will contribute to the global economic rebound by stabilizing supply chains among countries along the BRI route, while laying the foundation for further global cooperation, experts said ahead of opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, which will discuss a series of topics surrounding how to restore economic growth in 2021 after a coronavirus-triggered recession across the globe last year.

A record 12,400 China-Europe freight train trips were made in 2020, up 50 percent from the previous year, according to China's railway operator.

Following the uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the entire global economy, speculation as to whether the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), will continue according to schedule has become louder.

After chairing the port customs for China-Europe freight train in "the world supermarket" Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang Province, Zhao Hengchao said this year's demand for cross-border freight trains was unprecedented, with the total freight volume between China and Europe growing nearly 105 percent year-on-year, a reflection of close relation between China and the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Chinese enterprises have been shouldering corporate social responsibilities in their host countries, progressing China's Belt and Road agenda. Meanwhile, with the international communities reaching a consensus toward achieving sustainable development goals, experts believe that now is the optimal time to foster green development linked to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The two-day Belt and Road Summit organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government started Monday online, focused on Belt and Road (B&R) opportunities and the global economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US and Taiwan's act will not have any substantial impact on the BRI, because their plan is not a substantial economic plan at all. But it aims to improve the so-called US-Taiwan official relations. This is the crux of the problem.