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China’s One Belt One Road project heralds a new era of rapid development for Pacific countries, says the Bank of China.
The fourth largest global bank hosted representatives from eight Pacific Island countries in a tour of China to learn more about One Belt One Road and the opportunities it offers.
It is the first international financial seminar held by Bank of China for Pacific island countries. The seminar is focused on economic and social development in terms of poverty elimination, rural reform, agricultural industrialization, construction of industrial park and SMEs development.
China’s President Xi Jinping has called one Belt One Road ‘the project of the century’, with a vision to spend close to US$1trillion on trade, cooperation and infrastructure along the old Silk Road trade route from China to Europe overland (the belt) and along China’s maritime shipping routes (the road).
One Belt One Road is about promoting cooperation and working to build a community of shared interests and responsibility. It is underpinned by five main pillars – policy coordination; facilities connectivity; unimpeded trade; financial integration; and people to people bonds.
Countries attending the seminar were Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands and Niue. Ministers of Finance, Ministers of Commerce and Trade, senior managers from financial institutions and trade associations and large corporations visited Beijing and Shanghai.
David Lei Wang, CEO of Bank of China (New Zealand) Ltd said: ‘Relations between China and Pacific countries are entering a new period of rapid development. We are inviting Pacific countries to get on the express train of China’s development and improve their social and economic outcomes.’
Representatives also visited cultural sites including the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the National Grand Theatre.
A number of infrastructure projects are already underway through One Belt One Road, including an agreement for technical assistance from China to help develop Samoa’s sports facilities, which was sealed during a visit by the Vice Foreign Minister of China Zheng Zeguang to Samoa in May 2017. Key areas for cooperation between China and Samoa and investment include trade, tourism and infrastructure.
One Belt One Road
The vision of “One Belt One Road” was pioneered by President Xi Jinping in his visits to Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013. The “One Belt” refers to three land routes in the north, comprising (a) the main route connecting China and Europe through Central Asia and Russia; (b) a sideway linking Central Asia to Mediterranean Sea via the Persian Gulf; and (c) another land route linking China to the Indian Ocean via Southeast Asia (Map).1Legend symbol denoting More specifically, the land corridors aims at building a new Eurasian Land Bridge on the one hand, and developing several regional routes like China-Mongolia-Russia, China-Central Asia-West Asia, and China-Indochina Peninsula on the other.
For the “One Road”, it refers to the maritime route in the south, linking coastal China to Europe through South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, Suez Canal and Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, there is an extension to the South Pacific Ocean via the South China Sea.
(Source: Pasifik South Pacific News 24 July 2017)
