10 years on: BRI brings opportunities to Guizhou's development

The China-Europe freight train departs from Guiyang's Dulaying Railway Station, transporting more and more Guizhou-made products around the world. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]

Centuries ago, large caravans filled with tea traveled through the Ancient Tea Route that stretched across the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. These caravans made their way to India, extending all the way to the Middle East and opening up new foreign trade paths for China at the time.

In the autumn of 2013, the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a century initiative that carries the mission of the era, opened a new chapter in the world's development process, bringing new opportunities to Guizhou.

Sitting at a strategic location as the transportation hub for the southwestern seaport corridor, Guizhou plays a vital role in developing the Silk Road Economic Belt and serves as an important gateway to the BRI.

Over the past decade, Guizhou's cumulative investment in road and water transport construction amounted to 1.25 trillion yuan ($171.12 billion), equivalent to four times the investment from 1949 to 2012 (305 billion yuan).

Guizhou's high-speed railways and urban rail transit have developed rapidly over the past decade, with a total length of 8,010 kilometers of expressways. Guiyang has become a crucial transportation hub for high-speed rail in China, with fast transportation channels linking the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and Sichuan-Chongqing-Yunnan region.

At the end of 2014, Guizhou's first high-speed railway – the Guiyang-Guangzhou High-speed Railway – began operating, shortening the distance between the southwestern region and the southern coastal region of China.

The Xuyong-Bijie Railway is expected to open by the end of 2023, serving as the western line of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. Once the railway opens, it will become the most convenient railway freight transport route from Sichuan to Guangxi, connecting with the sea.

With perseverance in overcoming obstacles such as mountains and rivers, Guizhou is advancing steadily, transforming disadvantages into advantages and further enhancing its level of openness.