Investments worth almost $25 billion inked at Silk Road expo

A number of cooperation deals involving investments of 158.3 billion yuan ($24.6 billion) were sealed at the Fifth Silk Road International Exposition in China, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The agreements cover 72 key projects in sectors including education, modern agriculture, and high-tech industry. Foreign investment projects worth $7.7 billion have been also signed at the expo, according to the report.

The five-day expo in Xi’an, the capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, attracted more than 1,900 envoys and guests from 98 countries and regions such as Slovakia, Belgium, the Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, and Zambia.

The ambitious multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (also known as the ‘New Silk Road’), announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to boost connectivity and cooperation between East Asia, Europe, and East Africa. It is expected to significantly boost global trade, cutting trading costs in half for the countries involved.

According to official data, the total trade turnover between China and the Belt and Road nations amounted to $9.2 trillion from 2013 to 2020, while combined investment by Chinese enterprises in those countries reached $136 billion.

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