Belt & Road Initiative: Five years on: How China's plan has inspired Asian integration

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Trade between China and other Asian countries is significant. Data from China's Ministry of Commerce shows that the total trade volume between China and 25 other Asian nations hit more than 1.17 trillion US dollars in 2017, making up a third of regional trade.

Meanwhile, China's direct investment in these countries reached over 10 billion US dollars in the same period, accounting for 10% of China's total foreign direct investment.

As of 2018, China has become the largest trading partner of 16 Asian countries, including Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In terms of overseas projects, Chinese companies have signed contracts worth more than 83 billion dollars with 25 countries in Asia. This makes up 40% of the total amount of contracted Chinese foreign projects.

Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Laos have become China's main contracted project markets overseas.

In South Asia, regional connectivity has been strengthened with the construction of major infrastructure projects, especially the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. According to recent reports, CPEC has provided 60,000 jobs to Pakistanis since 2015 and is expected to create over 800,000 more by 2030.

Similar infrastructure projects have also kicked off in Southeast Asian countries, including the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Indonesia, China-Laos railway, and China-Thailand high-speed railway. Meanwhile, operations of Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka have also been transferred to a Chinese firm.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, as an international financial institution focusing on supporting infrastructure construction in the Asia-Pacific region, has backed 24 projects scattered in 12 countries, with the total amount of loans exceeding 4.2 billion dollars.

As President Xi said at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May 2017, the initiative has become a huge cooperation platform for countries keen to realize common development. In 2018, China will further promote cooperation with its Belt and Road partners while making consistent efforts in building a community with a shared future for mankind.