Chinese outbound investment in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries will reach up to $ 500 billion and Chinese tourists going abroad is expected to reach 700 million in coming five years.
China has invested more than $ 70 billion in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road initiative since its inception in 2013, with commodity trade exceeding $ 5 trillion.
“China has set up 75 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones with an investment exceeding $ 27 billion and created jobs for more than 200,000 local people,” Prof. Yiwei Wang School of International Studies, Director of the Institute of International Affairs, Director of the Center for European Studies and Senior Fellow at Yang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China told at a seminar held under theme, ‘Belt and Road Initiative, Challenges and Way forward,’
The event was held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka.
Prof. Wang said further that BRI will reduce shipping times for both BRI and for non BRI economies.
The largest estimated gains are for the trade routes connecting East and South Asia along the corridors that are part of the BRI. Shipping times among countries in the China -Central Asia -West Asia economic corridor will also decline by 12 percent due to the improved transport.
“It features the 21st century version of cinematography and also it links projects into lines, and lines will grow into belts, zones and economies of prosperity. A good road can begin good things,” he said.
BRI is a transportation network in the Eurasian area and beyond. In addition, digital Silk Road has been initiated to help partner countries to bridge the digital gap and inject new impetus into the digital transformation of countries along the route.
China’s Silk Road fund inked 19 projects with committed investment of $7 billion.
According to the World Bank’s Report on Belt and Road Economics: Opportunities and Risks of Transport Corridor, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could help lift 7.6 million people from extreme poverty and 32 million people from moderate poverty.
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