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E-mail China.org.cn, February 20, 2025
Xing Huina:
Please raise your hands if you have any questions.
Phoenix TV:
What progress was made in promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in 2024? Specifically, in the area of economic and trade cooperation, what are the key considerations for 2025? Thank you.
Li Yongjie:
Thank you for your questions. I will address them. In December of last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the fourth symposium on building the Belt and Road, providing guidance for advancing the high-quality development of the BRI.
During the past year, MOFCOM, together with relevant parties, continued to deepen Belt and Road economic and trade cooperation, promoted the development of an open world economy and facilitated mutual benefits among all participating countries. I would like to briefly outline our efforts in the following three aspects:
First, trade cooperation continued to expand. In 2024, China's total trade volume with BRI countries reached 22.1 trillion yuan. On the import side, nearly 54% of our imported goods came from BRI countries. As my colleague just mentioned, China's vast market continues to provide development opportunities for countries worldwide. On the export side, our exports to BRI partner countries included not only consumer goods but also equipment and components, which helped promote industrial development in participating countries.
Second, bilateral investment deepened. In the first 11 months of last year, China's non-financial direct investment in BRI countries totaled 214.66 billion yuan, while these countries invested 99.87 billion yuan in China. We signed 36 new investment cooperation agreements, primarily focusing on emerging sectors such as the green economy, digital economy and blue economy. China also deepened industrial cooperation with countries like Malaysia and Indonesia under the model of "Two Countries, Twin Parks."
Third, key projects were implemented. In the first 11 months of last year, Chinese contractors completed projects worth 826.34 billion yuan in BRI countries. We also implemented more than 700 aid projects in BRI countries, ranging from landmark projects to "small and beautiful" projects. These projects helped host countries improve their development conditions.
Looking ahead to this year, we will continue to thoroughly study General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches and implement the Central Economic Work Conference guidelines. We will focus on four aspects to advance substantive progress in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. These main aspects are as follows:
First, we will strengthen international cooperation on industrial and supply chains. We will actively expand trade, investment and industrial cooperation with BRI countries and further leverage the role of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones and "Two Countries, Twin Parks" platforms. We will continue to successfully host major exhibitions like CIIE and regional events such as the China-ASEAN Expo to pragmatically promote the further development of two-way trade and investment.
Second, we will deepen cooperation on practical projects. We will promote both landmark projects and "small and beautiful" livelihoods initiatives. We will enhance the quality and efficiency of our overseas contracted projects, collaborate with BRI partners on key infrastructure development and operations, and develop a multidimensional connectivity network. Additionally, we will work to implement more "small and beautiful" projects that deliver results, supporting BRI countries in improving people's livelihoods.
Third, we will expand cooperation in emerging sectors. We will continue to strengthen practical cooperation in areas such as the digital economy, clean energy and green mining. Additionally, we will deepen international cooperation in Silk Road e-commerce to help BRI countries achieve green development and digital transformation.
Fourth, we will improve economic and trade cooperation mechanisms. We will negotiate and conclude free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties with more BRI countries and establish cooperation frameworks for digital and green economy initiatives. We will leverage mechanisms like bilateral economic and trade joint commissions and working groups for trade facilitation and investment cooperation to enhance communication and coordination with BRI countries, creating new highlights and delivering tangible results. Thank you.
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