General

In Beijing in the middle of February, after the light snow, there was a little spring in the "July 9" wind.

The Ministry of Commerce, located at No. 2 East Chang'an Street, sent two good news in a row: with the approval of the State Council to establish the China-Indonesia Economic and Trade Innovation and Development Demonstration Park and the China-Philippines Economic and Trade Innovation and Development Demonstration Park, the overall plan for the construction of the two demonstration parks was also fresh.

China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners, and ASEAN is also an important source of foreign direct investment and destination of foreign direct investment for China. Both Indonesia, as the largest economy in ASEAN, and the Philippines, as a developing country in Asia, are good partners in building the "the Belt and Road" with high quality. Bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation with China has great development potential.

More than a year later, the vision came into reality and two blueprints were drawn. Guided by this, the Ministry of Commerce and the People's Government of Fujian Province, relying on the "two countries and two parks" project of China, Indonesia and the Philippines, will deepen local economic cooperation with the two countries, jointly build a demonstration park for economic and trade innovation and development, explore the international division of labor and cooperation mode of deep integration of industrial chain, supply chain and value chain, and create a new highland for international trade and economic cooperation and exchange between China and ASEAN countries.

The beginning is about the overall situation, and the beginning determines the future. In order to implement the deployment of the CPC Central Committee, at the national business work videoconference held on January 30, "cultivating new growth points of international trade and economic cooperation" was listed as one of the six priorities of business work in 2023.

Spring is the best plan for a year. The year 2023, when two economic and trade innovation and development demonstration parks are set up to make a wonderful start, China's international economic and trade cooperation will do a good job in the "new" chapter and forge ahead in the new era from multiple dimensions, such as deeply exploring the new potential of the "the Belt and Road" economic and trade cooperation, exploring new areas of foreign investment cooperation, and steadily expanding new platforms for open cooperation.

New potential: the economic and trade cooperation of the "the Belt and Road" has gone deep and solid

"Safe, convenient and comfortable!" On January 24, local time, President Buhari of Nigeria spoke highly of the first train of the first electrified light rail in West Africa - the first phase of the Lagos Light Rail Blue Line in Nigeria.

This 13km long light rail is constructed by Chinese civil engineering. It is the first electrified urban light rail transit project in West Africa with the whole industrial chain designed, constructed, constructed and used by Chinese enterprises. After opening to traffic, the average commuting time of 1 hour will be reduced to 20 minutes, which will completely change the urban appearance of Lagos and become the new business card of Nigeria.

Chen Sichang, general manager of CSCEC, said that CSCEC would continue to promote the construction of various projects with high quality, and make more contributions to the "the Belt and Road", a "development belt" benefiting the world, and a broader "happy road" benefiting mankind.

This is a vivid epitome of all parties' efforts to overcome the adverse effects of the external environment and to promote the economic and trade cooperation of the "the Belt and Road" since 2022. According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce recently, in 2022, Chinese enterprises will invest 20.97 billion US dollars in non-financial direct investment in countries along the "the Belt and Road", an increase of 3.3%, accounting for 17.9% of the total in the same period; It is mainly invested in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries. In terms of foreign contracted projects, 5514 new contracts for foreign contracted projects will be signed in 2022, with a turnover of 84.94 billion US dollars and a new contract value of 129.62 billion US dollars, accounting for 54.8% and 51.2% of the total, respectively.

This trend will become more obvious in 2023. A series of major projects have been solidly promoted, the construction of new land and sea channels for international trade has been accelerated, and projects of "small and beautiful, quick results, and people's well-being" have emerged... This year marks the 10th anniversary of the proposal to jointly build the "the Belt and Road", and economic and trade cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road is rapidly warming up.

Kazakhstan is one of the first countries to participate in the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road". At the beginning of the new year, the construction of ancillary facilities of the Southwestern Ring Road Project in the capital of Kazakhstan, located in Nur Sudan, is in hot progress. As the "road of friendship" between China and Kazakhstan, the southwest ring road project in the capital of Kazakhstan, which has been completed and opened to traffic, is an important project of Kazakhstan's national road traffic network.

Zhang Jian, Chairman and Secretary of the Party Committee of China Xinxing Group Co., Ltd., said that the total length of the southwest ring road project in the capital of Kazakhstan is about 34 kilometers, and the contract amount is $169 million. After the completion of the project, the round-the-city highway in the capital will be connected to the existing international expressway network, which will greatly improve the efficiency of transit logistics along the line and effectively alleviate the traffic congestion in the city.

In addition to the above projects, Xinxing Group also has two projects in Kazakhstan: Meybu Road Project and Kamai Road Project. The three roads, with a total mileage of 715 km and a total cost of 833 million US dollars, are representative projects for the successful connection between the "the Belt and Road" initiative and Kazakhstan's new economic policy.

"In the new year, Xinxing Group will participate in the construction of the 'the Belt and Road' with high quality, continue to deepen the existing markets in Kazakhstan, Benin and Cote d'Ivoire, expand the radiation to Central Asia and Africa, and explore and develop East Asia. At the same time, it will actively undertake landmark facilities and new energy green economy projects such as municipal transportation projects, large-scale public buildings, medical facilities, power facilities, government office buildings, and expand the international image of the corporate brand Loudness. " Zhang Jianxin is full of heart.

Looking forward to 2023, Lv Yue, professor and doctoral advisor of the National Institute of Opening up Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, said that the "the Belt and Road" economic and trade cooperation will present two new growth points: first, digitalization. China is promoting the construction of the "Digital Silk Road" and has formed more new service trade models based on digitalization. The digitalization field will become a new growth point of the "the Belt and Road" economic and trade cooperation. Second, green development. In recent years, the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" green development has achieved practical results. In the future, green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation and green finance will become key areas of cooperation. New field: foreign investment and cooperation

In 2022, China's foreign investment will develop steadily and steadily. The foreign direct investment of the whole industry was 985.37 billion yuan, up 5.2%. The turnover of foreign contracted projects reached 1042.49 billion yuan, up 4.3%.

Since this year, with the adjustment and optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures, the pace of China's foreign investment and cooperation has become faster and faster.

Since January, a series of foreign investment projects have been signed in succession: Shaanxi Construction and Installation Group won the bid for Bangladesh Natural Gas Pipeline EPC Project, China Design Group signed the contract for Bahrain Sitra East Guarantee Housing Project, China Machine Heavy Equipment signed the EPC project for Indonesia Tin Smelting and Tin Production Line, China Machine International signed the contract for Chile Cala Morritos 200 MW standby power plant project

At the same time, new investment intentions are also brewing and budding. On February 8, the China Overseas Industry Development Association issued an invitation letter: China Overseas Industry Association plans to organize a business delegation to visit Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Türkiye from March 3 to 17 to investigate new energy, traditional energy, agriculture, food processing, financial technology, electric vehicles, warehousing and logistics and other fields, and work with government officials, heads of social institutions Entrepreneurs and others jointly explore and seize new opportunities for cooperation.

In response, Lv Yue said, "In 2023, China's foreign investment and cooperation will face important opportunities, and the structure of foreign investment will continue to be optimized. In particular, investment in green energy, high-end equipment and other fields is expected to usher in a period of rapid growth, and promote China's foreign investment to continue to move towards high-quality development."

Lv Yue further said that at present, the proportion of PV and wind power investment in Chinese enterprises' foreign investment in green and low-carbon energy is rising. In the investment in renewable energy in countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road", hydropower projects have an absolute advantage. The scale of foreign investment in high-end equipment manufacturing continued to expand. Among them, automobile manufacturing accounts for the largest proportion, followed by computer/communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing.

Next, how should Chinese enterprises expand their investment space in the above two areas? Lu Yue gave the following suggestions:

In the field of foreign investment in green energy, on the one hand, we should guide enterprises to carry out foreign investment in the field of clean and low-carbon energy, and explore the establishment of a cooperative development mechanism for upstream and downstream enterprises in the clean and low-carbon energy industry chain. On the other hand, relying on cooperation platforms such as China-ASEAN, China-Africa Union, China-Central and Eastern Europe, and APEC Sustainable Energy Center, we encourage and support enterprises to cooperate and cultivate technical talents related to clean and low-carbon energy such as renewable energy, electricity, nuclear power, hydrogen energy, and help to carry out capacity building, policy, planning, standard docking and talent exchange.

In the field of foreign investment in high-end equipment, on the one hand, we should further promote the innovative development of high-end equipment of enterprises, promote the technological breakthroughs and level catch-up of key equipment such as advanced electronic equipment, intelligent complete equipment, high-performance medical equipment, and improve the international trade competitiveness of enterprises in the field of high-end equipment manufacturing. On the other hand, actively guide enterprises to invest more capital in high-end equipment overseas, especially expand the scale of investment in high-end equipment manufacturing industry in the "the Belt and Road" countries.

New platform: open cooperation multi-wheel drive

The "Silk Road E-commerce" is an important measure to jointly grasp the development opportunities in the digital era with partner countries by giving play to their respective comparative advantages in accordance with the "the Belt and Road" initiative, and has become a new platform and highlight for China's opening up and cooperation.

Since 2016, the Chinese government has actively developed "Silk Road E-commerce" cooperation. So far, it has signed e-commerce cooperation memoranda with 29 countries, and the construction of multilateral and regional e-commerce cooperation mechanisms such as China-Central and Eastern Europe, China-Central Asia and SCO has achieved positive results.

On the eve of the Spring Festival of the Year of the Rabbit, at the Hongqiao Pinhui Silk Road E-Commerce New Year Festival, which is the live special event of the "Silk Road E-Commerce" of the Shanghai Online New Year Festival, the "Western New Year" from more than 10 partner countries, such as Brazil's high-quality coffee beans, Vietnam's purple cashew nuts, Pakistan's salt lamp, and Russia's vodka, appeared in the "circle powder", which soon filled the "New Year shopping cart" of netizens.

In recent years, Shanghai is actively creating the "Silk Road E-commerce" cooperation pilot zone. In 2022, Hongqiao Pinhui built two important sub-platforms, namely Shanghai International Sister City Port and the live broadcast e-commerce base. At present, nearly 5000 kinds of goods from 36 countries along the "the Belt and Road" and "Silk Road E-commerce" partner countries have settled in Hongqiao Pinhui. In the future, Hongqiao Pinhui will also enrich the bonded display function, expand the cross-border e-commerce model, open the online national pavilion of "Silk Road E-commerce", and create convenience for enterprises from countries along the "Silk Road E-commerce" and "the Belt and Road" to enter the Chinese market.

In addition to the "Silk Road e-commerce", overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have also been the main force of China's opening up and cooperation space in recent years. By the end of 2022, Chinese enterprises have invested 397.9 billion yuan in the cooperation zones built in countries along the line, creating 421000 jobs for the local people.

Green development and digital transformation are becoming the main development direction of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones. The Guidelines for the Green Development of Foreign Investment Cooperation issued in 2021 proposed to build a green overseas economic and trade cooperation zone. Encourage enterprises in the zone to promote the greening of industries in the zone and build green and low-carbon parks; Help to reduce the operating costs, energy consumption and material consumption of enterprises and improve the green development level of the cooperation zone. The Guidelines for Foreign Investment and Cooperation in the Digital Economy issued in the same year also mentioned the construction of digital overseas cooperation zones. Encourage digital economy enterprises to participate in the construction of scientific and technological R&D type overseas economic and trade cooperation zones and create overseas scientific and technological innovation platforms. Create virtual cooperation zones and industrial clusters across physical boundaries, and build transnational digital industrial chain supply chain.

In addition, in 2023, China will continue to actively negotiate and sign cooperation documents on digital economy, e-commerce, green development, etc., to expand greater development space for foreign investment and open cooperation. By 2022, China has signed 31 memorandums of cooperation with relevant countries in the fields of green development, digital economy, blue economy and other fields, and has fully cooperated in the fields of international trade such as new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, and new infrastructure construction.