Zhejiang a major part of China's Belt and Road Initiative

Afghan businessmen bargain with a toy vendor at Yiwu International Trade City in Yiwu, a city famous for its wholesale goods market, in East China's Zhejiang province on Sept 13, 2018. [Photo by Tan Jin/Xinhua]

As the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) gets underway in Beijing on April 25-27, exchange and cooperation between China and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has come under the international spotlight.

The event will feature 12 sub-forums over the course of three days designed to facilitate the sharing of ideas on different topics. Around 5,000 foreign guests from more than 150 countries and over 90 international organizations are attending the forum.

Workers at Taizhou Chenji Food Co Ltd are busy packing waxberries for export to the United Arab Emirates. [Photo/chinabluenews WeChat]

Zhejiang, known for its thriving open economy, is a major participant in this year's BRF, with several of its companies and entrepreneurs invited to join discussions at the sub-forums.

Since China launched BRI in 2013, the trade value between Zhejiang and BRI countries and regions has reached 4.34 trillion yuan ($644.45 billion).

From 2013 to 2018, the province saw total inward foreign investment of $3.34 billion from said countries and outward investment of over $28 billion, with an average annual growth of 31.1 percent.

A Zhejiang-backed logistics park begins operations in Czech Republic on Sept 4, 2018. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]