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SCIO briefing on 'The Belt and Road Initiative: Progress, Contributions and Prospects'

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Speakers:
Xiao Weiming, director general of the Department of General Affairs at the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative;

Song Lihong, director general of the Comprehensive Department at the Ministry of Commerce

Chairperson:
Hu Kaihong, spokesperson for the State Council Information Office of China

Date:
April 22, 2019

Xinhua News Agency:

It has just been mentioned that, during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Ministry of Commerce will take the lead to organize two sub-forums, namely the Unimpeded Trade Sub-Forum and the Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones Sub-Forum. Can you tell us more about these two sub-forums? Thank you.

Song Lihong:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has held a briefing regarding the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Since you are concerned about the two sub-forums hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, I will give you a brief introduction about them.

The Unimpeded Trade Sub-Forum will be held at the National Convention Center on the afternoon of April 25. The sub-forum is organized by the Ministry of Commerce, and is co-organized by the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration, the Export-Import Bank of China and the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation. The theme is "Openness, Inclusiveness, and Innovation, Deepening Belt and Road Unimpeded Trade Cooperation." Discussions will focus on "deepening multilateral and bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and promoting openness and integration," "developing new trade forms and promoting innovation-driven development," and "optimizing the business environment, and promoting sustainable development." Judging from the number of sign-ups, the sub-forum has drawn a lot of attention. We estimate that there are about 300 Chinese and foreign participants, including more than 200 of the latter, many of whom are ministerial level and above.

The Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones Sub-Forum will be held at the National Convention Center on the morning of April 25. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce are co-organizers. The theme is "Jointly building overseas economic and trade cooperation zones and promoting Belt and Road international investment cooperation." Participants will discuss the topics of "building overseas economic and trade cooperation zones through discussion and collaboration" and "promoting high-quality development of overseas cooperation zones." There will be about 200 participants, more than half being foreigners.

In addition to the guest speaker session, these two sub-forums also have a discussion session. We believe that all parties will make full use of these opportunities to create a greater consensus on economic and trade cooperation, and make new efforts and contributions to promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road. Thank you.