2019 is the sixth year since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Up to now, the initiative has seen active participation and fruitful results from Chinese public sector companies, according to speakers at a conference on public sector companies' involvement in the BRI, held on December 9.

During the conference in Beijing, Liu Yong, chief economist and dean of the China Development Bank, said there are around 3,683 Chinese public sector companies, nearly one-fourth of which have businesses related to the BRI.

Officials from China's business associations said at the moment, public sector companies are the main strength in building the BRI because they are usually more resourceful and competitive, though private companies are gradually starting to have more involvement too.

The majority of these companies are state-owned and have carried out many projects related to basic infrastructure for countries and regions along the Belt and Road, such as transportation systems, raw material, electricity and energy facilities. These projects meet many BRI countries' needs in upgrading infrastructure for industrialization and urbanization.

These businesses, the main power in the BRI, have produced significant results according to the conference. For example, trade statistics from China Customs show that in the first 11 months of 2019, the total value of trade with BRI countries combined was 8.35 trillion yuan (1.19 trillion U.S. dollars), which was 9.9 percent higher year on year. The growth rate was 7.5 percent higher than the average growth rate.

In the past six years, the accumulated trade with BRI countries has exceeded 7.5 trillion U.S. dollars, and the accumulated investment to BRI countries from Chinese companies and other organizations has surpassed 100 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

To assist with the businesses in BRI countries, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade has set out to compile a series of business environment guides for Chinese companies in the BRI and published the first six guides on Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, France, Chile and the United Arab Emirates.

It is also noted that participation from Chinese public sector companies in the BRI will continue to grow, as China's Shenzhen Stock Exchange said at the conference that 65 percent of their listed Chinese companies plan to increase their BRI businesses in the next three years.