Key engineering projects under the B&R Initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative has won wide attention and active responses from the international community since President Xi Jinping proposed it in 2013. The construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has made remarkable achievements. A batch of influential and symbolic projects have been launched or finished around the world in the fields of infrastructure construction, manufacturing and culture.

Infrastructure construction projects:

Railways

China-Europe Freight Train

Twenty-seven cities in China now have a total of 51 freight rail links to 28 cities in 11 countries in Europe. Since the first China-Europe freight train pulled out of southwest China's Chongqing in March 2011, more than 3,000 trains have shuttled between the two sides, making the China-Europe Freight Train a backbone channel in international logistics transportation.

Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway

This is the first foreign high-speed railway which uses Chinese technology, standards and equipment. After it is finished, it will be the first high-speed railway not only in Indonesia but also in the whole of Southeast Asia.

Moscow-Kazan High-speed Railway

After it is finished, the travelling time by train between the two cities will be shortened from the current 14 hours, to 3.5 hours.

There are also railway projects in East Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Ports

Gwadar Port in Pakistan, which was funded, constructed and managed by China, was open to navigation in November 2016.

Piraeus Port is the largest in Greece, and a Chinese enterprise became its largest shareholder and major operator in August 2016.

There are also ports of cooperation projects in Mombasa Port in Kenya and the Port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka.

Bridges

Zemun-Borca Bridge in Serbia is the first bridge designed and built mainly by Chinese enterprises. It was finished and came into service in December 2014, becoming the second bridge to cross the Danube River in Belgrade.

Padma Bridge in Bangladesh, which Chinese enterprises started building in August 2016, is the largest bridge China has constructed overseas, and will connect the 21 districts in southern Bangladesh with the capital Dhaka.

Public Security Infrastructure

Ecuador Public Security Emergency Command Center now has 16 sub-centers all over the country, which are all built by the Chinese enterprises and equipped with Chinese facilities and technology. The center played an important role in the April 16 earthquake relief work last year.

Industrial projects

China-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipeline Project

The project is the fourth energy import channel of strategic importance to China, which can deliver oil and gas directly through Myanmar and southwest China, without going around the Malacca Strait.

Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company is China’s largest investment project in Saudi Arabia, as well as Sinopec’s first refining project abroad.

Electricity transmission project

EETC 500-kilovolt transmission project is the first energy cooperation project between China and Egypt, as well as Egypt’s largest and highest-level transmission line project.

There are also industrial projects of steel factories in Serbia and power plants in Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan.

Industrial park projects

China-Belarus Industrial Park

Named Great Stone, the industrial park covers an area of 91.5 square kilometers, and is regarded as a new landmark on the Silk Road Economic Belt. The construction of the park started in 2014, and the whole project will be finished in three stages lasting30 years.

Malaysia-China Kuan Tan Industrial Park opened in 2013 and is a sister park with China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in Qinzhou, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Sihanoukville Port Special Economic Zone in Cambodia is the largest special economic zone in the country and its main industries include textile and garments, hardware and machinery, light industries and household appliances, etc.

Humanity and cultural projects

Silk Road Book and Fragrant Chinese Bookshelf is the only key project of the press and publishing circle under the Belt and Road Initiative. It sponsors translation of key books related to the initiative as well as books from the Belt and Road countries. 

International border cooperation project

Khorgos International Border Cooperation Center

The center is a cross-border free trade area of China and Kazakhstan, and the first of its kind which China has built with its neighbors, as well as a demonstration zone of the regional trade and economic cooperation under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.