Belt and Road cooperation has made massive advances: official

David Maina Kamore patrols at the construction site of Konza transformer substation in Machakos County, Kenya, May 5, 2023. David Maina Kamore, 32, is an electrical engineer, a profession he had been dreamed of since his childhood, at the Konza transformer substation. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Massive advances have occurred through jointly building the Belt and Road over the past decade, said a Chinese government official.

In a recently published signed article by Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's national economic planner, the official said that over the past 10 years, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents on the joint construction of the Belt and Road with 152 countries and 32 international organizations, covering 83 percent of the countries with which China has established diplomatic relations.

Infrastructure connectivity has become more accessible through Belt and Road cooperation, Zheng said, citing various landmark projects, such as the China-Europe Railway Express, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, and the China-Laos Railway.

The China-Europe Railway Express has reached 211 cities in 25 European countries, and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor has connected China's central and western regions with more than 300 ports in over 100 countries, said Zheng.

From 2013 to 2022, the import and export of goods between China and countries along the Belt and Road increased by an average of 8.6 percent annually, Zheng said, adding that their cumulative two-way investment has exceeded 270 billion U.S. dollars.

In the overseas economic and trade cooperation zones built by Chinese enterprises in the countries along the Belt and Road, 421,000 local jobs were created over the past decade, Zheng said.

"It is estimated that by 2030, the joint construction of the Belt and Road would have helped lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty in the relevant countries," Zheng said.