B&R by the Numbers: Provinces more actively participating in B&R projects

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of Belt and Road Portal's special series on the Belt and Road Big Data Report 2017.

Comparing with 2015, provincial regions put more enthusiasm in participating in the construction of Belt and Road projects last year, a report said.

The State Information Center recently published the Belt and Road Big Data Report 2017. The report found that the participation index of China’s 31 provincial regions increased last year, and the index gap among different provincial regions is decreasing.

The five most active participants of the Belt and Road Initiative last year were Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Shandong. And the list in 2015 was Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Tianjin and Fujian.

Thirty provincial regions have set up Belt and Road administrative departments; all of the 31 regions surveyed have published synergy strategies to map out potential opportunities in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative; and 24 provincial regions have issued related policies, covering free trade zones, industrial parks, finance, culture, tourism, medical care, cross-border e-commerce and logistics, the report stated.

By May 18 this year, 67.74 percent of the provincial regions have signed the agreement on the promotion of international production capacity and equipment manufacturing cooperation with the National Development and Reform Commission, and 80.65 percent of the provincial regions have signed cooperation agreements with relevant foreign agencies.

Twenty-nine provincial regions took part in the construction of industrial parks, bonded zones, export processing zones, bonded logistics zones and border economic cooperation zones, the report said.

The report also figures out that there are some problems existing in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, such as the disequilibrium of participation, the weakness of local supporting facilities in some places and the shortage of cultural and tourism communication.

The report suggests certain areas should actively expand economic and trade cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road routes, support the construction of industrial parks concerning foreign ventures and encourage local industries to take part in foreign trade and investment cooperation.