Take the Belt and Road for prosperity

The 10,000th freight train on the China-Europe railway of this year rolled out from Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, on Sunday. The same day, a train left Qingdao port for Indonesia. It will be used on the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway line.

Both events mark a high point for the Chinese high-speed railway industry. For years, China has been launching railway cooperation programs that benefit its cooperation partners and drive their economic growth. A good example is Duisburg port in Germany's old industrial base of Ruhr district, which suffered from the decline of the coal industry. The China-Europe railway has now helped it to grow into a logistics center in Europe while reviving the fortunes of this traditional port, from where goods are sent across Europe.

The China-Europe railway already has 82 lines linking China with 200 cities in 24 European countries. From its opening in 2011 to now, its transportation volume has grown by over 900 times, covering over 50,000 kinds of goods distributed in 53 major categories.

In the past 11 years, the railway has shipped freight－automobiles to jewelries, industrial goods to agricultural products－worth more than $300 billion to the whole of Europe.

Those living along the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway will also benefit from the new line. The new line linking Indonesia's capital city with its fourth largest city will, upon opening, shorten travel from three hours to 40 minutes. For many Indonesians, that means greater potential to develop and realize prosperity.

The hardships brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and political disparities, not to forget the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have brought many challenges to the world's development. Against this backdrop, the Belt and Road Initiative has demonstrated China's tireless efforts to reduce the world's development deficit and promote everyone's development.

Over 140 countries have signed documents with China on Belt and Road cooperation. In 2021, China's goods trade volume with countries along the line reached 11.6 trillion yuan ($1.69 trillion). The Belt and Road Initiative has clearly been a public good for the world.