Photo taken on Aug. 3, 2016 shows the Silk Road International Convention Center in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province. Two main venues of the Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo, Dunhuang Silk Road International Convention Center and Dunhuang Grand Theater, have been almost completed. The expo will be held in Dunhuang on Sept. 20. (Xinhua/Chen Bin)
BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Capacity, infrastructure and education cooperation with countries under the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative is progressing well, an official said Thursday.
The total value of bilateral capacity cooperation has exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars under the framework, said Zhao Chenxin, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) at a news briefing.
So far, Chinese companies have built 46 cooperation zones in countries along the routes, while China's Ministry of Education has inked over 60 deals with those countries, according to Zhao.
In 2015, nearly half of the international students in China came from countries along the routes, Zhao added. Nearly 400,000 foreign students from 202 countries and regions came to study in China in 2015, data showed.
Meanwhile, China was building more railways, highways and ports along the routes while sealing more MOUs with its neighbors and partners.
Launched in late 2013, the initiative is an umbrella term for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It will be a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.
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Interview: China's Belt and Road Initiative conducive to reviving world economy: senior UN official
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The world economy remains flaccid now even eight years after the outbreak of the global economic and financial crisis, but China's Belt and Road Initiative is conducive to efforts to revive the global economy, a senior UN official told Xinhua.
Hong Pingfan, director of the Development Policy and Analysis Division in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that the Chinese initiative contains many proposed measures of international cooperation to revitalize the world economy.Full Story
