Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, trade and economic cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road, such as Russia and Kazakhstan, has given impetus to the depressed global economy.

According to Professor Zhu Yongbiao, Executive Director of the Belt and Road Research Center at Lanzhou University, the pandemic is not holding back China’s resolve to embrace the outside world.

Despite the pandemic, trade between China and countries along the Belt and Road reached US$1.35 trillion in 2020, an increase of 0.7 percent, according to the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC. compared to 2019, while China’s direct non-financial investment in these countries amounted to US$17.79 billion, an increase of 18.3 percent. on an annualized basis.

According to Wang Wen, executive director of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Research at the People’s University of China, amid the pandemic, the economic recovery in China has played an important role in stimulating the development of the economies of countries along the Belt and Road.

During the pandemic, China maintains close cooperation with countries and regions along the Belt and Road. At the same time, the spheres of trade and economic cooperation are constantly expanding and the scale of trade is increasing.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan, trade between the two countries jumped from US$368 million in 1992 to US$21.43 billion in 2020. China has become the second largest trading partner of Kazakhstan.

According to data published in January 2021 by the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, in 2020 the trade turnover between China and Russia amounted to 107.77 billion US dollars. Thus, this figure for the third year in a row exceeded the US$100 billion mark.

Last year, the volume of agricultural trade between China and Russia reached a record level of 5.55 billion US dollars, in particular, imports of agricultural products from Russia last year reached 4.09 billion US dollars. dollars, having increased by 13.7%. on an annualized basis.

A spokesman for the aforementioned ministry, Gao Feng, said that the Sino-Russian trade and economic cooperation withstood the test of the pandemic, as they say, "real gold is not afraid of fire." The main trend of bilateral cooperation, characterized by strong complementarity and long-term movement towards improvement, remains unchanged, he added.

According to Gao Feng, since the second half of last year, exports from China to Russia have moved into growth and have shown positive growth for 6 consecutive months. In addition, imports from Russia of key commodities such as oil, gas and iron ore have grown significantly, while exports from China to Russia of electronics, including laptops, tablets and smartphones, have also gained momentum.

Despite the fact that the pandemic is spreading around the world and the world economy has suffered serious damage, in 2020, a total of 12.4 thousand train trips were made within the framework of international China-Europe rail freight, which is 50 percent. more than in 2019. The number of flights performed during the year exceeded 10 thousand for the first time.

According to the Urumqi Administration of the China State Railway Corporation, in 2020, a record number of China-Europe freight trains - 9679 trains - crossed the border in both directions through the checkpoint of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region / Northwest China / border.

In particular, 5027 trains crossed the border through the Alashankou checkpoint, 4652 trains crossed the Khorgos checkpoint, which, respectively, by 41.8 and 37 percent. higher than in 2019.

According to Lu Shanbing, director of the Silk Road Research Institute at Northwestern University, the pandemic has put increasing pressure on traditional sea and air travel, contributing to an increase in the number of freight trains on China-Europe routes.

In addition, Chinese Customs has also developed a number of measures to support the development of China-Europe international rail freight.

Wang Wen believes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Belt and Road cooperation is temporary and local. It does not create significant obstacles to the overall cooperation process. According to him, the data on China-Europe railway transportation testify precisely to the stability of the Belt and Road construction.

Qian Keming, Deputy Minister of Commerce of the PRC, recently announced that the country’s Ministry of Commerce will make efforts to increase bilateral trade with countries participating in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, in particular, to expand imports of high-quality goods. At the same time, China will also promote the development of cross-border e-commerce and its integration with the construction of the Belt and Road, as well as promote the construction of free trade zones of high standards.