Friendships across Belt and Road grow in western China

Chengdu, an economic hub in western China, is facilitating cooperation with more countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

The 16th Western China International Fair held in the city earlier this month highlighted elements of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping.

Four halls featuring the initiative were set up. Exhibitors from 27 countries and regions along the Belt and Road attended the fair, with a total exhibition area of 35,000 square meters.

The fair also hosted activities relating to the Belt and Road Initiative.

During the event, Chengdu announced that it had expanded the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail, a cargo railway route that connects the city to European countries, now ending at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. A one-way trip takes about 13 days.

"The launch of the express rail to Rotterdam will further strengthen the ties between Europe and China, and boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation," said Maxime Verhagen, former Dutch vice-prime minister and former minister of economic affairs, at the fair.

The express rail began operation in April 2013, in line with the Belt and Road Initiative.

The route originally connected Chengdu to Lodz in Poland. It was then expanded to other European cities including Kutno in Poland, Nuremberg in Germany and Tilburg in the Netherlands.

To further expand its connection with Belt and Road countries and regions, Chengdu worked out a strategy called "Chengdu-Europe Plus".

According to the strategy, the city will open two more major railway routes to Europe: one to Istanbul in Turkey and another to Russia.

Chengdu achieved several large cooperative projects with countries along the Belt and Road.

A Sino-German innovative industrial cooperation park, covering a total area of 22 square kilometers, was inaugurated in Chengdu Tianfu New Area. It will be the main platform for Chengdu to conduct cooperation with Germany.

An industrial fund with total investment of 5 billion yuan ($732 million) was also established to provide financial support to German companies that invest in Chengdu.

During the 11th EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair, a major event of the 16th Western China International Fair, five memorandums of cooperation were signed between the EU Project Innovation Center and Italy, the UK, South Korea and Russia.

The EU Project Innovation Center is a nonprofit organization based in Chengdu, which aims to promote and support business cooperation between the EU and China.

Two of the five memorandums will take effect within the cooperation framework of the Enterprise Europe Network, which has a presence in 54 countries and aims to provide small and medium-sized enterprises with services involving technological innovation and trade support.