Sun Yuxi , former Chinese Ambassador to Italy and Poland

The China- Europe freight train service is an outstanding development under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which focuses on interconnectivity through the construction of infrastructure. In recent years over a dozen cities in China have established regular train connections with several European cities including Lodz, Hamburg and Moscow. These journeys have been made over 7,000 times, and now during return journeys to China, 90 percent of trains are filled with cargo as China imports more goods from Europe.

Another key development as part of this initiative was the acquisition of the Piraeus, Greece’s largest port, by the China COSCO Shipping Group in 2016. Once the construction of the Hungary-Serbia railway, China’s first railway project in Europe, is completed, China will be able to connect with the continent via sea-land transportation and ship commodities to anywhere in Europe with relative convenience.

The building of infrastructure can enhance regional connectivity and create a large number of job opportunities, as well as releasing untapped cooperation potential among involved countries. No matter their stage of development, all countries will benefit from such connectivity. This is one of the primary reasons why the Belt and Road Initiative is so enthusiastically welcomed around the world.

The initiative also holds at its core the principle of achieving shared benefits through extensive consultation and joint contribution. Every project within its mandate is built according to local development plans and is in line with the common interests of all parties. Guided by such principles, China and Europe will have great opportunities to collaborate in the future.