BEIJING, Mar. 9 – In the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has galvanized nearly $1 trillion, launched over 3,000 cooperation projects, created over 420,000 jobs, and lifted 40 million people out of poverty, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said at a press conference held Tuesday on the sidelines of the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress in Beijing.
He said that the Belt and Road Initiative has attracted the participation of over three-fourths of countries in the world and 32 international organizations.
“Ten years after its inception, BRI has created an array of national landmarks, livelihood projects, and milestones of cooperation”, he said.
“The China-Laos Railway helps make land-locked Laos a land-linked country. Luban Workshops help young people in over 20 countries acquire vocational skills. The China-Europe Railway Express has completed more than 65,000 freight services, serving as a health train delivering medical supplies during the pandemic”, he further specified.
This year, China will host the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. “We will take this as an opportunity and work with relevant parties for more fruitful outcomes from the Belt and Road cooperation”, he highlighted.
Responding to a question on the so-called “debt trap”, Qin said, “China should be the last one to be accused of the so-called debt trap. Data show that multi-lateral financial institutions and commercial creditors account for more than 80 percent of the sovereign debt of developing countries. They are the biggest source of debt burden on developing countries. Particularly last year, the unprecedented rapid interest rate hikes by the US have led to massive capital outflows in many countries and worsened the debt problems in the countries concerned”.
He told the audience that China has been making efforts to help the countries in distress, and is the biggest contributor to G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).
“China will continue to participate constructively in the resolution of international debt issues. Meanwhile, we call on other parties to act together and share the burden fairly. When parties sit together and talk things through, there will be more solutions than problems”, he added.
