The Belt and Road Initiative has helped to create 60,000 jobs around the world with its total investment of more than $1.4 billion so far, a top legislator said Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the Belt and Road Initiative during state visits to Central and Southeast Asia in the spring of 2013. The initiative has been widely supported since that time, especially in countries along the Belt and Road route, said Wang Chen, vice chairman and secretary general of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

Wang made his remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road that began July 26 in Beijing.

Wang said that over 70 countries, regions and international organizations have actively participated in Belt and Road construction. He added that China has signed cooperative agreements with more than 30 countries, and over 20 countries have signed industrial capacity cooperative agreements. Some 46 overseas cooperation zones have been established in 17 countries along the Belt and Road route.

“Belt and Road construction has become a common dream, guiding us to pursue peace and development for people in many countries,” Wang said.

The annual media forum, which is hosted by People’s Daily, has been held each year since 2014. It is the media forum with the greatest number of participants from various countries and foreign media organizations held by a Chinese media group in recent years, according Yang Zhenwu, president of People's Daily, at the opening ceremony.