BEIJING, Aug. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from Daily Online:
On May 25, 2024, Beijing time, with the departure of the X8157 China-Europe Railway Express (Xi’an-Malashevich) from Xi’an International Port Station in China, the cumulative number of China-Europe Railway Express trains has surpassed 90,000. Over the past decade, this iron dragon, running across the Eurasian continent, has injected new momentum into the world’s economic growth. As a matter of fact, the opening and operation of the China-EU Railway Express is a reflection of the implementation and prosperous development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a testament to the friendly exchanges among countries along the Belt and Road.
Nowadays, as globalization is growing deeper, the economic interconnection and development among countries have become a significant driver to facilitate global prosperity. In March 2013, China first proposed the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind; in September and October of the same year, it successively put forward the ideas of jointly building the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. Originating from China, facing the world, and benefiting all humanity, the joint Belt and Road Initiative connects history, reality, and the future. With its unique charisma and China’s remarkable prowess, it is delivering positive development to BRI-related countries.
Looking back on history, the Belt and Road Initiative is deeply rooted in the splendid history of the ancient Silk Road in China, staying true to the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit. The proposal of this initiative is not only the inheritance and development of the ancient Silk Road, but also a new exploration of the international economic cooperation model in the new era. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said that the original intention of proposing this initiative is to learn from the ancient Silk Road, take interconnectivity as the main clue, strengthen policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, trade smoothness, financial integration and people-to-people ties with other countries, inject new momentum into world economic growth, open up new space for global development and create a new platform for international economic cooperation.
Focusing on the present situation, the data from the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) shows that in the past decade, the participating countries have extended from the Eurasian continent to Africa and Latin America. Over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations have signed cooperation documents for jointly building the Belt and Road, and more than 20 multilateral cooperation platforms in professional fields have been established. A large number of landmark projects and “small yet smart” people-centered projects have been launched. Moreover, the overall import and export volume between China and other BRI-related countries has continued to grow, the scale of two-way investment has continuously expanded, and people-to-people exchanges have become increasingly frequent. All these have provided strong support for promoting economic growth and improving people’s livelihood in these BRI-related countries.
A high-speed railway line is an economic artery. In the process of jointly building the Belt and Road, many countries and regions have demonstrated an attitude of active participation and win-win cooperation. For example, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway officially opened on October 2, 2023, in Indonesia. It is not only the first high-speed railway in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, but also a landmark project for jointly building the Belt and Road. The railway connects Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and Bandung, a tourist city, passing through nine counties and cities, with a total length of 142.3 kilometers. After its completion and operation, the travel time from Jakarta to Bandung has been shortened from more than 3 hours to 40 minutes. This high-speed railway, which is expected to help Indonesia create a new high-speed railway economic belt, facilitate economic growth, and improve people’s well-being, is also the “first order” for China’s high-speed railway to go overseas for construction with all systems, factors and industrial chains.
Looking ahead, the joint Belt and Road Initiative will continue to play a significant role. With the participation of more countries and regions, setting off from a new historical starting point, the Belt and Road Initiative will become more innovative and vibrant, more open and inclusive, opening new windows of opportunity for China and the rest of the world.
SOURCE Daily Online