B&R by the Numbers: China has over 700 sister cities along B&R routes

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of Belt and Road Portal's special series on the Belt and Road Big Data Report 2017.

Thailand, Russia, Egypt, Ukraine and Cambodia are the top five countries along the Belt and Road routes having the highest level of cultural and people-to-people exchanges with China, according to a report.

Over the past four years, China has constantly advanced its cultural ties and exchanges with relevant countries along the Belt and Road routes, with mutual understanding and trust among the peoples deepening continuously, according to the Belt and Road Big Data Report 2017 recently published by the State Information Center.

The top three regions which have the closest cultural and people to people connections with China are Northeast Asia, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. Russia and Kazakhstan have been involved in the most activities, such as forums, expos and tourism festivals with China last year.

Media and netizens in Singapore, Pakistan and Thailand have shown high expectations for the deepening of pragmatic cooperation and common development with China, while their counterparts in China expect the same with these countries.

By May 18, Chinese cities have established 2,451 sister cities overseas, 136 more than the same period last year. In 53 countries along the Belt and Road routes, 707 cities have formed sister-city relations with Chinese cities.

The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has 59 sister cities overseas, the most among all provincial regions in China, followed by Shandong, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The sister-city relations also play an important role in boosting inter-city cooperation and increasing China’s cultural influence around the world, the report says.