C OvER sTORY
T
rade in silk, porcelain and tea con-
nected China and the rest of the
world in ancient times along the
silk roads. Returning to the global trading
network in the late 20th century largely un-
derwrote China’s economic take-off, and in
turn China’s resurgence in world politics, inthe 21st. Now the world’s largest trading na-
tion in merchandise is setting her eyes back
along the ancient trade routes, but beyond
just trade.
According to China’s official data, Chi-
nese companies invested more than US$50
billion between 2014 and 2016 in countriesalong the routes of the Belt and Road, a Chi-
nese initiative proposed in September 2013
to link China, Europe and Africa via land
and sea. Capital flow from China to the rest
of the world is estimated to reach US$600
to US$800 billion in total for the five years
from 2017 onward. “Much of it will go to
the Belt and Road,” said Ning Jizhe, vice
minister of the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s
leading economic planning agency, at a press
conference in Beijing on May 12. At the Belt
and Road Forum for International Coopera-
tion in Beijing on May 14, Chinese President
Xi Jinping announced the provision of more
than US$55 billion in loans for financial,
infrastructure and production capacity coop-
eration under the initiative.
The 56 industrial parks in operation, joint-
ly built by China and 20 host countries along
the Belt and Road, are one of the main desti-
nations of China’s investment. According to
China’s official data, they had absorbed more
than US$18.5 billion of Chinese investment
by the end of 2016. In China’s roadmap to
realising the vision of the Belt and Road,
overseas industrial parks are one of the main
ways for international cooperation on pro-
duction capacity, a priority area of the Belt
and Road initiative.
Domestically, special economic zones,
industrial parks or development parks have
acted as the forerunner of China’s transition
towards a market economy, and remained a
powerhouse for China’s growth today. Pro-
market policies and reforms have been tried
there first. In terms of leading overseas ven-
tures, such parks are supposed to help Chi-
nese companies learn how to take off in un-
familiar locations. In China’s recently issued
explanatory official paper titled Jointly Build
the Belt and Road: Ideas, Practices and Chinese
Contributions, these parks are defined as “im-
portant channels for investment cooperation
and transplanting and replicating China’s de-
velopment experience.”
Like the Chinese enterprises which have
gone abroad, operators of these parks have
learned that their experience at home, no
matter how successful and rich it has been,Belt and Road Forum
Breaking the Mould
The idea of industrial parks run by Chinese enterprises along the
Belt and Road seeks to boost the industrialisation process of host
countries. Their success lies in a mutual learning process, which
means Chinese operators and policy makers cannot simply copy
past experiences
By Li Jia
A Thai worker at the factory of Futong Group Communication Technology (Thailand) Co in the
Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone
Photo by xinhua