Investment Cooperation between China and Countries along the line of “Belt and Road” Develops Rapidly
The “Belt and Road” Initiative, first proposed by the Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a trade and infrastructure network that includes the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road”.
The “Belt and Road” initiative follows the trend of peace, development, cooperation and win-win idea. It’s a Chinese plan to promote open cooperation and peaceful development, as well as a blueprint with a global vision to connect the past with the present and coordinate the mainland with the sea. The initiative has got extensive attention from the international community and is being actively responded by many countries. Nearly two years’ continuous efforts that have been conveyed towards the “Belt and Road” construction are giving their positive effects.
From January to September this year, the investment cooperation between China and countries along the line has been developed with a good momentum. Positive progress has been made continuously in the construction of “One Belt and One Road”.
According to the statistics published by China, from January to September 2015, countries along the “One Belt and One Road” have invested and established 1604 enterprises in China, up 19% on year-on-year basis; and the amount of actual foreign investment has reached US $6.12 billion, up 18.4% on year-on-year basis. The actual foreign investment from Saudi Arabia (US $277 million), Malaysia (US $326 million) and Singapore (US $5.036 billion) increased more rapidly, up 812.2%, 164.1% and 12.6% on year-on-year basis respectively.
At the same time, the Chinese investors have made direct investments in a total of 48 countries along the “One Belt and One Road”, with the total investment amount of US $12.03 billion, up 66.2% on year-on-year basis. The investments have mainly flowed to Singapore, Kazakhstan, Laos, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and other countries.
In terms of contracting foreign projects, from January to September this year, Chinese enterprises have signed 3059 new contracts in 57 countries along the “One Belt and One Road”, with the value of US $59.1 billion, accounting for 42.9% of the value of new contracts signed for foreign projects contracted by China in the same period, and showing an increase of 24.9% on year-on-year basis. The turnover completed was US $44.02 billion, accounting for 43.7% of China’s turnover of contracted foreign projects completed in the same period, and showing an increase of 5.0% on a year-on-year basis.
The bilateral cooperation between China and Armenia has also made positive progress, and the Government of Armenia expressed its willingness to contribute to the “Silk Road Economic Belt” concept. According to the official data issued by the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the bilateral trade volume between China and Armenia in January-September was US $358 million, in which the export of Armenia to China increased by 11.9% to US $ 132 million. China has been the second largest trade partner of Armenia since 2009.
In terms of infrastructure, the Chinese enterprises have been actively participating in the tender of the third tranche of “North-South Road Corridor” Program and in the rehabilitation of 220/110 KV Agarak-2 and Shinuhayr substations, carrying out technical and economic feasibility study on the construction of Armenia-Iran Railway project, as well as coordinating with the Armenian side to strengthen the investment cooperation in the fields of copper, cement and glass production.
