Prime Minister Hun Manet receives a guard of honour as he departs Beijing, where he attended the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Oct 19, 2023. - STPM
BEIJING: Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been a key force driving global growth over the past decade as the global economy faces mounting challenges, including a sluggish recovery and rising protectionism.
Remarkable achievements have been made in boosting trade and investment, improving global industrial and supply chains, and promoting more balanced development since the BRI was proposed in 2013, experts said.
Infrastructure investment and the facilitation of trade and investment are two major drivers of faster global economic growth and the BRI has made enormous contributions in both aspects, said He Weiwen, an expert with the China Association of International Trade.
From 2013 to 2022, the cumulative value of imports and exports between China and BRI countries amounted to US$19.1 trillion, with an average annual growth rate of 6.4%, according to a white paper released by the State Council Information Office on Oct 10.
Cumulative two-way investment between China and partner countries came in at US$380bil during the period, including some US$240bil from China, the white paper said.
Over 3,000 BRI cooperation projects have been launched in the past decade, involving close to US$1 trillion of investment.
Many of these projects, such as railways, bridges and pipelines, have helped build an infrastructure network that connects subregions in Asia as well as the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.
By improving infrastructure connectivity, BRI cooperation can reduce international trade costs and enable underdeveloped countries, especially those that are landlocked, to participate in global trade and seek economic development, said Liu Nanxing, an expert on international cooperation at the National Development and Reform Commission.
Interconnected infrastructure under the BRI framework has played an important role in maintaining the stability and smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains, said Hu Biliang, executive director of the Belt and Road School at Beijing Normal University.
Moreover, it has provided the energy and transport facilities much needed by underdeveloped and developing countries to allow them to participate in global industrial and supply chains, Hu said.
By the end of June, China had signed agreements on industrial capacity cooperation with more than 40 countries.
More than 70 overseas industrial parks had been built by Chinese enterprises together with governments and enterprises in partner countries, according to the white paper.
Citing research results from the World Bank, Wang Lei, a scholar with the School of Government at Beijing Normal University, said the proposed BRI transportation network and resulting increase in foreign direct investment can increase BRI countries’ gross domestic product growth by 0.09 percentage point, including a rise of 0.23 percentage point in sub-Saharan Africa.
By involving countries in different regions, at different development stages and different cultures, the BRI has pursued open and inclusive growth at a time when globalisation dominated by only a few developed countries has led to imbalanced economic development, experts said.
“The BRI is a key platform for galvanising the global economy,” said Wang Fan, president of China Foreign Affairs University, who pointed to a throng of challenges facing global growth prospects, including rising protectionism and volatility in the international landscape. — Xinhua
