Belt and Road Construction’s Achievement of the Past Decade and Development Prospect

Ten years ago， with deep insight into global development trends and to promote common development and human progress， General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the grand Belt and Road Initiative （BRI）. Over the past decade， the Belt and Road construction has not only forcefully advanced the global connectivity process and injected significant dynamics to the world economic recovery but also created a brand new model of international cooperative development， and conducted innovative exploration for change on global governance， becoming a milestone of the history of human development， especially that of contemporary international relations as well as an important support for promoting the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and building a modern socialist country with Chinese characteristics.

Marked Achievements of Decade-Long Belt and Road Construction

Under the BRI framework， “five connections” complement one another， with “hard connectivity”， “soft connectivity” and people-to-people bonds bringing out the best in each other. Not only has the BRI achieved direct and real benefit that attracts the world’s attention， it has also made comprehensive long-term benefits for the future generations.

First， the BRI has advanced China’s political，economic and social relationships with partner countries. By June 2023， China has signed BRI cooperative documents with 152 countries in the world and 32 international organizations， covering more than three quarters of global countries and 60 percent of global population. By the end of August， it has signed 21 free trade agreements with 28 countries and regions， and the trade in goods between China and the BRI partners has expanded from US $1.04 trillion in 2013 to US $2.07 trillion in 2022， with an average annual growth of 8 percent. In 2022， the proportion of China’s total imports and exports with BRI partner countries reached 32.84 percent， 7.82 percentage points above that of 2013. Between 2013 and 2022， the total value of new project contracts signed by Chinese enterprises with the BRI partner countries and the turnover accumulated to US $1.2 trillion and US $800 billion respectively， accounting for a half of the total value of contracted foreign projects during the same period. The two-way investment between China and BRI partner countries accumulated to US $270 billion， and investment in Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Areas （OETCA） in the BRI partner countries accumulated to US $57.13 billion， creating 421，000 local jobs. The economic relations between China and BRI partners country have improved resilience of each country’s supply chains. In 2022， China’s exports of textile products， electronic components， basic organic chemical products and automobile parts increased by 14.5%， 21.1%， 31.1% and 24.6% respectively， and energy and agricultural imports increased by 58.8% and 13.4% respectively. The BRI plays an important role in ensuring stable energy， food and key mineral supplies for all countries concerned.

Second， the BRI has advanced the global process of comprehensive connectivity. Over the past ten years， as the four-in-one connectivity of land， sea， space and cyber has moved forward in a solid way， a connectivity framework of “six corridors， six routes， and multiple countries and ports” has taken shape. The China-Europe Express freight trains increased from 80 trips in 2013 to 16000 trips in 2022， having connected over 110 cities in China and 216 cities in Europe by the end of June 2023. Since the China-Laos Railway became operational in December 2021， passenger trips have totaled 20 million， with cargo trips covering Laos， Thailand， Myanmar， Cambodia and Singapore. Goods categories have increased from over 100 including chemical fertilizer and general merchandise to begin with to over 1200 including electronics， photovoltaic and cold chain fruits. The New Western Land-Sea Corridor has taken shape with the Eastern， the Central and the Western railway main roads， radiating to 18 provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities under direct jurisdiction of the central government， and 61 cities， while logistics and transportation network connecting 119 countries and regions， and 393 ports across the globe. China has signed MOUs of cooperation on the Digital Silk Road with 17 countries， established Silk Road e-commerce bilateral cooperative mechanisms with 23 countries， and built 34 cross-border terrestrial cable systems and several international submarine cables. More importantly， the China-Europe Express， the New Western Land-Sea Corridor， the China-Laos Railway and the Digital Silk Road have promoted integration among countries involved and thus creates still greater integration effect. Under the BRI framework， as cooperation in culture， education， tourism， science and technology， poverty alleviation， sports and medicine and public health has continued to deepen， people in the countries concerned have not only aligned with the BRI cooperation vision but also actively participated in the Belt and Road construction process， and increasingly become important BRI participants and contributors.

Third， the BRI has boosted world economic recovery. The Belt and Road construction has brought real economic development and people’s well-being to the participating countries. For instance， China-Belarus Great Stone Industrial Park has attracted 107 enterprises from 15 countries， covering machine building， e-commerce， new materials， traditional Chinese medicine， artificial intelligence and 5G network development， and become the largest industrial park in the Eurasian region. Since a Chinese conglomerate invested and took part in the operation of the Port of Piraeus in Greece， this largest Mediterranean port has been helped out of operational difficulties and rejuvenated， being praised by Greek Prime Minister Mitsotákis as “a win-win landmark project”. Since purchasing Smederevo steel mill in Serbia， another Chinese conglomerate has turned around the enterprise that had made losses for years running into a profitable one， saving 5000 local jobs and becoming the second largest exporter of the country. Yet another Chinese company contracted the construction of Puttalam power plant in Sri Lanka， solving the problem of electricity for 20 million people and providing 40% of power supply of the country. Engineering projects such as the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway， the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway， Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway and the Kamchiq Tunnel greatly cut back on local transport time cost. As the World Bank’s Belt and Road Economics： Opportunities and Risks of Transport Corridors report goes， if fully implemented， BRI transport infrastructure can reduce travel time for economies along the transport corridors by up to 12%， increase trade by between 2.8% and 9.7% for the corridor economies， and increase real income by 1.2% and 3.4%， lifting 7.6 million people from extreme poverty and 32 million people from moderate poverty. According to a study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research of the United Kingdom （UK）， by 2040， the BRI will contribute more than US $10 billion to the GDP of over 50 BRI participating countries whereas the United States （US）， in spite of not participating in the BRI， will benefit a 1.4 percentage increase to its economic growth.