New industries at forefront of BRI

Representatives of companies and business associations talk with each other over potential deals during the CEO Conference of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Photo: Courtesy of BRF

Hundreds of agreements between Chinese and foreign firms have been signed during the CEO Conference of the Second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation on Thursday, the Global Times learned, with deals or statements of intent being reached on cooperation, not only in traditional sectors such as trade, but also newly emerging industries such as cloud services and new energy.

The CEO Conference, which took place at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, is the first of its kind. Entrepreneurs from 88 different countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes gathered for the forum, which is aimed at bridging the interests of companies in different countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and facilitating pragmatic cooperation.

“As the BRI upgrades, companies are exploring new models of cooperation to complement each other and generate synergy… They not only wish to strengthen cooperation in traditional trade and investment partnerships, but also expand collaboration in the digital economy and artificial intelligence,” said Gao Yan, chairperson of the China Council for the promotion of International Trade,  at the opening ceremony of the conference.

Huang Juhui, vice president of a Brazilian agriculture company said  that the company has reached preliminary cooperation agreements with several Chinese peers in the agricultural sector.

“Brazil was [China’s] biggest foreign supplier of soybeans, chicken and beef last year, but we also hope to tap the two countries’ potential in the agricultural trade by promoting exports of more pig and chicken products to China,” Huang said.

While deals in trade and infrastructure are still at the forefront, officials and representatives from business groups are hailing tech connectivity as a major outcome of the event.

Chinese server maker Inspur Group is just one of the companies to have signed a tech agreement during the conference. The company inked a deal with National Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the national railway company of Kazakhstan, on Thursday to build a data center in the Central Asian country.

“The Kazakhstan side hopes that partnering with a Chinese tech company will support local computing ability, reduce costs and accelerate development of the digital economy in the country,” Sun Pishu, CEO of Inspur Group, told the Global Times.

Sun said that companies in other countries along the BRI, such as Thailand and Saudi Arabia, have shown interest in learning from China’s experience in building a digital society.

New energy company Jinko Solar has received interest from local government and research institutes in BRI countries and regions, including Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, on cooperation in new energy and new materials, company spokesperson Qian Jing told the Global Times. Qian did not give specific details.

Liang Haiming, dean of Hainan University’s Belt and Road Research Institute, said the trends at the forum show that six years after it was first put forward, there is renewed direction and impetus for the BRI.