Jointly build the Belt and Road and share the fruits

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative had become an important international public good, opening up a development path leading to common prosperity for all partner countries.

In 2023, the trade volume of goods between China and partner countries reached 19.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.8 percent from a year earlier, and the proportion of China's trade with partner countries in China's total foreign trade increased by 1.2 percentage points to 46.6 percent from 2022.

In 2023, China's turnover of contracted projects in energy conservation and environmental protection in partner countries increased by 28.3 percent year-on-year.

In the same year, 23 memorandums of investment cooperation were signed in green, digital and blue economy fields between China and partners countries.

As an important facilitator of the Belt and Road Initiative, China-Europe Railway Express has become a major international transport artery running through the Eurasian continent. In 2023, 17,000 China-Europe freight train trips were operated and 1.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units were shipped, up 6 percent and 18 percent year-on-year, respectively.

By 2023, China-Europe Railway Express reached more than 200 cities in 25 European countries, with a transport service network covering the entire continent, ensuring the stability of the international industrial and supply chains.

In 2023, China signed bilateral currency swap agreements with 20 Belt and Road partner countries, and established RMB clearing arrangements in 17 countries involved in the initiative, effectively promoting trade and investment facilitation.