Pivot city along Maritime Silk Road takes initial shape

As a pivot city along the Maritime Silk Road, Xiamen takes its initial shape. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian province, has made great achievements in interconnectivity, economic and trade cooperation, marine cooperation and people-to-people exchanges with the Belt and Road countries, and as a pivot city along the Maritime Silk Road, Xiamen is taking its initial shape.

An efficient and convenient network of sea, land and air transport has been established. The city has housed 42 ship routes along the Maritime Silk Road, reaching 17 countries and regions. The first Xiamen-Moscow train departed from the city in 2017 and China (Xiamen) - Europe trains has access to 13 cities in nine countries. A total of 10 international air routes have been opened up to now, connecting the city with Europe, America and Australia.

Two-way investment with the Belt and Road countries greatly increased. Xiamen-based enterprises have invested 14.6 billion yuan ($2.16 billion) in 16 foreign projects, a 70 percent increase year-on-year while ninety projects worth 2.4 billion yuan ($362 million) have been introduced to the city, a 26 percent increase year-on-year.

The marine cooperation develops in all dimensions. The construction of platforms for such cooperation has been accelerated, including a big data platform of China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Center, an ecological service platform for China-ASEAN Ocean Park and a service platform for China-ASEAN marine industries. The cooperation with ASEAN in marine tourism has also been deepened and an additional cruise line to Manila and Boracay Island has been launched.

The coastal city has forged sister-city relations with Phuket, Thailand in 2017 and 19 foreign cities have become Xiamen's sister cities to this day. Four more overseas liaison offices have been established in Ukraine, Moscow, Sydney and Amsterdam, increasing the offices to 26.