Cooperation pays off with Q1 gains in trade, investment, MOFCOM says

China’s economic and trade cooperation with countries and regions along the route of the “One Belt, One Road” ( B& R) initiative gained momentum in the first quarter of 2017, China’s Ministry of Commerce ( MOFCOM) said on Thursday ahead of the B& R Summit Forum that’s scheduled for Bei- jing in May.

Bilateral trade increased 26.2 percent year- on- year in the first quarter to 1.66 trillion yuan ($ 240 billion), according to the MOFCOM.

China’s exports to those markets were up 15.8 percent, representing 28.2 percent of China’s total overseas shipments, data from the MOF- COM showed. Meanwhile, imports from those markets increased 42.9 percent, accounting for 25 percent of the total.

Bilateral investment continued to expand. China’s new direct non- financial investment in 43 countries and regions along the B& R route reached $ 2.95 billion, taking up 14.4 percent of the total in the peri- od, according to the MOFCOM.

As part of China’s B& R initiative, the China- Belarus industrial park is undertaking investment work in an orderly manner, MOFCOM spokesman Sun Jiwen told a regular press conference on Thursday.

Sun noted that there will be a conference for promoting trade facilitation in May, for which more than 100 foreign guests have confirmed attendance, including ministerial officials, international organizations and enterprise representatives.