“一带一路”成中国“两会”热词

人民日报记者 姜  波

随着中国“两会”的即将召开,“一带一路”成为国际社会关注两会的重点。巴基斯坦驻华大使马苏德·哈立德日前称,“和大多数国际观察家一样,我热切关注两会的各项议程,尤其是经济和互联互通领域的。”他希望看到今年两会推动 “一带一路”建设的提速。

 

 

“一带一路”(英文:The Belt and Road,缩写B&R)是“丝绸之路经济带”和“21世纪海上丝绸之路”的简称,是中国国家主席习近平于2013年倡议的一个跨越时空的战略构想,强调相关各国要打造互利共赢的“利益共同体”和共同发展繁荣的“命运共同体”。该区域范围横跨三大洲,发端于中国,贯通中亚、东南亚、南亚、西亚乃至欧洲部分区域,沿线包括66个国家和地区。

 

普华永道香港企业融资部主管西蒙·布克表示,自中国倡议以来,“一带一路”区域内项目的投资金额一直处于上升趋势,复合年增长率(英文简写为:CAGR)达到33%。去年,“一带一路”沿线国家及地区的GDP平均增长率为4.6%,超过了新兴市场经济体3.6%的平均增速。

 

 

“‘一带一路’还在多方面惠及世界。”中国商务部研究院区域经济合作研究中心主任张建平在接受人民日报记者采访时说,当前,“一带一路”在推动沿线国家基础设施改善的基础上,双向贸易、投资的合作发展成为其重要落脚点。”

 

 

根据商务部数据,2016年,中国与“一带一路”沿线国家的进出口总额约9184亿美元,增长0.6%。中国企业已经在“一带一路”沿线20多个国家建设了56个经贸合作区,累计投资超过185亿美元,为东道国创造了近11亿美元的税收和18万个就业岗位。

 

 

“一带一路”还将在今年5月成为国际社会焦点。届时,“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛将于5月14日至15日在北京举行。

 

 

 

“The Belt and Road” to dominate agendas of China’s “two sessions”

 

By Jiang Bo from People’s Daily

 

 

China’s Belt and Road initiative is attracting more world attention as annual sessions of National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), also referred to as the “two sessions,” are just around the corner.

 

Pakistani Ambassador to China Masood Khalid said he hopes the meetings will cover agendas on  accelerating the construction of the routes.

 

“Like most international observers, I would follow each agenda during the two sessions, especially the ones related to the fields of economy and connectivity,” he added.

 

Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road initiative refers to building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The visionary strategic plan is aimed at building involved countries into a community of common interests and shared destiny featuring mutual benefit and common prosperity.

Encompassing 66 countries and regions in three continents, the routes begin from China and run through Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and even some parts of Europe.

The investment amount of projects across the Belt and Road region has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent since China put forward the initiative in 2013, said Simon Burke, head of the financing department at PwC Hong Kong.

 

Last year, the average GDP growth of the region was 4.6 percent, outnumbering the average 3.6-percent-growth of emerging markets, he added.

 

“More than that, the Belt and Road initiative benefits the world in so many ways,” Zhang Jianping, head of the Research Center for Regional Economic Cooperation under China’s Ministry of Commerce told the People’s Daily.

 

He further added that the initiative focuses on not only infrastructure construction of the countries along the routes, but also their bilateral trade and two-way investment.

 

Data released by the Ministry of Commerce shows that China’s combined imports and exports with countries along the routes topped 918.4 billion dollars in 2016, up 0.6 percent from 2015.

 

Chinese businesses helped build 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in about 20 countries along the Belt and Road with a combined investment surpassing 18.5 billion dollars, generating nearly 1.1 billion dollars in tax revenue and about 180,000 jobs in those countries.

 

Besides this important political event, the international cooperation summit forum on the “Belt and Road” initiative to be held on May 14 to 15 will bring around round of “Belt and Road” fever.

 

 

 

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