World
Keywords to Understand the Belt and Road Initiative
  ·  2017-07-24  ·   Source: NO. 30 JULY 27, 2017

The China Academy of Translation, a research institute affiliated with the China International Publishing Group, the country's leading international publisher, has analyzed prevailing terms concerning the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and translated them into a number of foreign languages. In each issue, Beijing Review presents some of these keywords to help readers know more about the initiative.

China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor 

The China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor (CCWAEC) links China and the Arabian Peninsula. The vast region it covers generally follows the trajectory of the ancient Silk Roads.

The corridor starts from China's Xinjiang and traverses Central Asia before reaching the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. It crosses five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and 17 countries and regions in West Asia (including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey). It is an important component of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Central and West Asia are rich in resources, but many factors—underdeveloped infrastructure and lack of funding in particular—hinder local development. The CCWAEC will facilitate economic and trade cooperation between the three regions and increase capital flows into Central Asia and West Asia, boosting local economic and social development.

New Eurasian Land Bridge 

The New Eurasian Land Bridge (NELB) is an international passageway linking the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. Distinct from the Siberian land bridge, which goes from Russia's eastern port of Vladivostok through Siberia to Moscow and onward to West European countries, this "second" bridge goes from China's coastal cities of Lianyungang and Rizhao to the Netherland's Rotterdam and Belgium's Antwerp. A 10,800-km rail link runs through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany, serving over 30 countries and regions.

Opened in the early 1990s, the NELB is gaining new impetus from the Belt and Road Initiative. It facilitates trade and other exchanges between the countries along the route and between Asia and Europe.

To date, several transcontinental rail routes, which showcase the potential of the Belt and Road Initiative, have entered service. These include the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway (reaching Germany's Duisburg via Poland), the Chengdu-Xinjiang-Europe Railway (reaching Poland), and the Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe Railway (reaching Madrid). The construction of associated highways, power transmission lines and ports is progressing in a steady manner.

China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor 

The idea of a China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC) was proposed by President Xi Jinping on September 11, 2014 during the first trilateral meeting of the three heads of state in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, and was welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. On June 23, 2016, the three countries put pen to paper on a development plan for the proposal, the first multilateral cooperation plan to form part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

As an important component of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the CMREC aims to align China's Belt and Road Initiative with Russia's proposal for a Eurasian Union and Mongolia's Steppe Road program.

The CMREC has two key traffic arteries: One extends from China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to Hohhot and on to Mongolia and Russia; the other extends from China's Dalian, Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin and Manzhouli to Russia's Chita.

Seven major areas of cooperation are envisaged: transport infrastructure and connectivity; port construction and customs and border inspection and quarantine services; industrial capacity and investment; trade; cultural and people-to-people exchanges; environmental protection; and cooperation with adjacent regions. Transport is the main focus.

Comments to yanwei@bjreview.com

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