Located at the junction of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Chongqing Municipality has distinctive geographical advantages in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, according to a symposium held during the visit of the Youth Leaders Delegation of Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries in Chongqing on Dec.2.

A symposium with the theme of China-CEE Countries Cooperation and Chongqing’s Participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, was held in Chongqing Municipality on Dec. 2. [Photo by MiXingang/China.org.cn]

Chongqing has proactively participated in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative through accelerating the free flow of economic elements, allocating resources more efficiently and deepening market integration, said Gao Wen, director of the International Cooperation Department of the Chongqing Commerce Commission, during the symposium. Chongqing has now established aviation, railway and inland river transport hubs, three state-level first-class ports and three bonded supervision areas, Gao added.

Starting from Chongqing, the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway with a total length of 11,179 kilometers has connected China with Europe since 2011 as it passes through Lanzhou City in Gansu Province, Alataw Pass in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Kazakhstan, Russia, Poland and ends in Germany, said Tan Jun, vice-director of the publicity department of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Transport, at the meeting.

With a planned area of 35 square kilometers, the Chongqing Western Modern Logistics Park is at the starting point of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway and serves as a bonded logistics center in southwestern China, said Liu Sheng, chairman of the supervisory board of the park, when he introduced it to the delegates from CEE countries. The park aims to help more enterprises to go global and its annual output value is expected to reach 300 billion yuan after its completion, he added.

Many of the delegates were amazed by the beautiful cityscape in Chongqing and they would like more Chinese support on infrastructure construction in their countries. Aleksandar Seselj, member of the presidium of the Serbian Radical Party, expressed his anticipation for the construction of the Hungary-Serbia Railway, which is now undertaken by Chinese enterprises. "We hope more Chinese merchandise can enter Serbia through broadened channels as Chinese goods are of good quality and low price," he added.

Vesna Andreevska, director of the China Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, who had worked in China for years, complimented Chongqing's achievement as a miracle and expressed her willingness to establish more links between Chongqing and her country by holding business forums and so on.

Stefan Voinea, director of the International Cooperation Bureau of the National Chamber of Commerce of Romania, noted that China and Romania have harmonious trade relations and he advocated more commitment from CEE countries to the Belt and Road Initiative.

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