Wuxi plays bigger role in BRI

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province has been an active participant in the Belt and Road Initiative and experienced higher-level opening up in transportation, industrial cooperation, and cultural exchanges in recent years.

In January this year, Wuxi International Freight Train Co Ltd was established to manage international freight trains in the city.

As of October, 428 international trains carrying cargo worth $20.59 million had departed Wuxi, including 272 trains for Russia, according to Ren Zhuping from the West Wuxi Railway Station Logistics Park, the departure station of Wuxi's international trains.

After operations ceased due to a COVID-19 outbreak, the Sunan Shuofang International Airport in Wuxi was the first to resume international import freight services in Jiangsu last year, while the city's Jiangyin Port saw a year-on-year increase of 2.84 percent in foreign trade cargo throughput to 66.58 million metric tons that same year.

Wuxi's industrial investment and cooperation in countries involved in the BRI have yielded fruitful results.

Enterprises in the city have invested in 400 projects in these countries, with contracted investment from China worth $3.95 billion as of October this year. Its trade with countries involved in the BRI jumped 15 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of the year and accounted for 27 percent of the city's total foreign trade value.

Wuxi values cultural exchanges with countries involved in the BRI. The Wuxi Vocational Institute of Commerce cooperated with Wuxi University and Hodo Group in February to develop courses for the Sihanoukville Institute of Business and Technology in Cambodia.

In March, the Wuxi International Month and International Cherry Blossom Festival was held, during which an RCEP sister city cooperation mechanism was established.