Zhejiang province moves ahead with Belt and Road Initiative

The Zhejiang Provincial Promotion Conference on Belt and Road Initiative is held in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on June 8. [Photo provided to chaindaily.com.cn]

The Zhejiang Provincial Promotion Conference on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) opened in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on June 8. 

A sideline event of the ongoing China-CEEC Expo and International Consumer Goods Fair in Ningbo, the meeting gathered over 300 government officials and entrepreneurs from 60 countries and regions across the world to share practices on  BRI construction. Among the attendees were Indonesia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Kenya, Thailand, Oman and the Czech Republic. 

Che Jun, Party secretary of Zhejiang, addressed the conference, saying that Zhejiang is willing to bolster cooperation and exchange with countries involved in the BRI in the areas of culture, science technology, education, healthcare, environmental protection and tourism. In doing so the province will achieve high-quality development.

A list of the achievements regarding Zhejiang's construction of the BRI was released, showing that the total trade volume between Zhejiang and other participating countries totaled over $680 billion between 2013 and 2018. 

More than 10 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones were built, generating employment for 60,000 local people. 

The conference also witnessed the signing of 20 projects valued at over $1.43 billion, focusing on the areas of automobile production, intelligent manufacturing, energy development and industrial park construction. 

PingPong, China's cross-border E-commerce payment platform based in Hangzhou, announced it will deepen cooperation with Luxembourg. The two sides will work together on the export of China's cross-border e-commerce to the European Union, along with PingPong's overseas electronic payment and digital banking projects. 

Launched in 2015, the financial technology startup established its Luxembourg entity, PingPong Europe, last September, making it the first Chinese fintech company to establish an office in Europe. 

A total of 20 projects valued over $1.43 billion are signed at the Zhejiang Provincial Promotion Conference on Belt and Road Initiative in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on June 8. [Photo provided to chaindaily.com.cn]

Overseas guests pose at the Zhejiang Provincial Promotion Conference on Belt and Road Initiative in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on June 8. [Photo provided to chaindaily.com.cn]