The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has transformed from an idea and vision to action and reality, and yielded fruitful achievements since Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the initiative five years ago.
As an important part of the initiative, engineering projects and capacity cooperation have injected strong momentum into regional economic growth.
The trade volume between China and BRI countries has exceeded $5 trillion with an average annual growth rate of 1.1 percent, according to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on August 28.
Over the five years since the BRI was proposed, Chinese enterprises have established 82 economic parks in BRI countries, with $28.9 billion in total investment, helping create 24,000 job opportunities for local communities.
In addition, the contractual value of new projects signed by Chinese enterprises now surpasses $500 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 19.2 percent.
I. The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in Cambodia, with a planned area of 11.13 square kilometers, will attract 300 companies and institutions and employ 80,000-100,000 industrial workers.
II. Built by China, the Hassyan Clean Coal Project in Dubai, UAE, is the first clean coal-fired power station in the Middle East. Being the Silk Road Fund's first project in the Middle East, it will provide Dubai with 20 percent of its energy.
III. The China-Belarus Industrial Park has attracted the largest investment in Belarus. Located in the Minsk Region, Belarus, it will attract more than 200 high-tech enterprises. The number of employees will exceed 120,000.
IV. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a model project of China-Pakistan Cooperation. The early projects have already created 38,000 jobs for local people.
V. Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway opened on May 31, 2017, connecting the eastern port city of Mombasa in Kenya with the capital Nairobi. With a total length of 480 kilometers, the first new railway since Kenya's independence has carried more than 1.35 million passengers.
（Produced by Sun Tianren, Zhao Dantong, Wang Yi and Wang Xiangyu；videos provided by Wang Siyu and Lyu Qiang）