According to the white paper titled “A Global Community with a Shared Future: China's Proposals and Actions'', China is committed to building an open world economy and a new type of economic globalization that is essential to building a global community with a shared future. We are working to promote this. The Chinese government announced this in late September.
Economic globalization is an irreversible trend in world economic development, greatly promoting trade, investment, people flows and technological progress, making important contributions to the development of the world economy.
China has become a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions, and has concluded 21 free trade agreements with 28 countries and regions. The country's annual foreign trade volume reached a record high in 2022, ranking first in the world for the sixth consecutive year.
China has been committed to high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Trade with other RCEP member countries increased by 7.5% in 2022 compared to the previous year. Trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) increased by 19.4%.
The Belt and Road Initiative is a vivid example of building a global community with a shared future. The Belt and Road Initiative proposed in 2013 refers to two parts of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Belt and Road countries and regions account for 65 percent of the world's population and 40 percent of global GDP. More than 150 countries and 30 international organizations around the world have signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements with China.
China has invested in more than 3,000 projects in these countries, ranging from ports and railways to bridges, creating 421,000 jobs for residents. Belt and Road transport corridors have the potential to significantly improve trade, foreign investment, and the living conditions of people in participating countries.
According to a report published by the World Bank, Belt and Road Economics, Belt and Road transport infrastructure will reduce travel times and trade costs for countries along transport corridors by up to 12 percent.
Belt and Road transport projects are estimated to increase trade by 2.8 to 9.7 percent in corridor economies and 1.7 to 6.2 percent globally. FDI inflows are expected to increase by 7.6% in low-income corridor economies.
Real income growth in the corridor economy is expected to grow between 1.2 and 3.4 percent. This transportation project could lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day, and 32 million people out of moderate poverty on less than $3.20 a day.
According to the World Bank, by 2030, the Belt and Road will generate $1.6 trillion in annual global revenues.