Pakistan among top 5 countries cooperating with China in belt and road initiative

Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Indonesia are the five most cooperative countries in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative.

Russia is ranked as the top collaborator with China in the Belt and Road Initiatives, closely followed by Kazakhstan, according to a report released by the Belt and Road Initiative Big Data Center at the State Information Center on October 28.

The report analysed 64 countries and regions’ cooperation with China in the Belt and Road Initiatives from five aspects, which include policy communication, connectivity, trade, finance and public support.

The Belt and Road Initiatives, which comprise the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was brought up by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.

The annual report presents a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the initiative and an authoritative evaluation of the cooperation between China and the 64 countries involved and the engagement of its 31 provinces.

The report, released by Du Ping, standing deputy director of the State Information Center (SIC), consists of two volumes: the first offers a comprehensive assessment of the building of the Belt and Road, and the second presents special analysis on important issues, such as international industrial cooperation, regional cooperation, internationalization of RMB and cross-border e-commerce, and puts forward some practical suggestions.

According to Du, there are more than 300 billion pieces of data in the report from domestic and foreign statistics agencies, news websites, social media and various other forums, over 5pb of which is original data, covering more than 60 countries and regions along the routes of the Belt and Road.