China Economic Review Sept 7--China Economic Net

Opinion

China's Opportunities Empower High-Quality Development of the Belt and Road Initiative

As the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative enters a new stage of high-quality development, leveraging the technological, industrial, and model advantages brought by new quality productive forces, China is helping developing countries seize opportunities from the latest round of technological revolution and industrial transformation through multiple pathways such as capacity cooperation, technology transfer, and joint talent cultivation. This fosters future-oriented endogenous growth poles and injects new momentum into sustainable economic growth.

The Green Silk Road builds a growth pole for energy transition. On the one hand, large-scale implementation of clean energy projects such as wind and photovoltaic power shores up the weak links in power supply. Projects such as the Garissa Solar Power Plant in Kenya, the Bash and Dzhankeldy wind power projects in Uzbekistan, and the clean energy base in northern Laos have enabled stable electricity coverage in many underdeveloped regions. On the other hand, energy cooperation models have upgraded from resource procurement to full-industry-chain co-construction. The start of Phase IV of the Galkynysh Gas Field project in Turkmenistan marks the extension of China-Turkmenistan energy cooperation across the entire chain of exploration, development, transportation, and operation and maintenance; Chinese new energy vehicle companies have established production bases in Thailand, Malaysia, and Hungary, driving the development of the local new energy vehicle industry chain from scratch.

The Digital Silk Road fosters a growth pole for the digital industry. At the level of digital infrastructure, the Tanzanian national optical fiber backbone network project has significantly reduced local communication costs. At the level of industrial application, the Silk Road e-commerce partnership has expanded to 36 countries, helping specialty products from various countries directly reach China's vast market; digital scenarios such as smart agriculture, smart transportation, and mobile payments have been implemented, activating local productivity and commercial vitality.

The Innovation Silk Road consolidates a growth pole for independent and long-term development. In the field of scientific and technological innovation, joint laboratories and international technology transfer centers have been established in multiple countries, and mechanisms for joint training of high-level scientific and technological talents continue to improve; the South-South Cooperation and Development College has provided a large number of government management and high-end technical talents for developing countries, sharing China's development and governance experiences. In the field of vocational skills, Luban Workshops have covered 32 countries and regions, providing skills training for over 120,000 participants in total, supplying local talents for the implementation of emerging industries such as new energy and intelligent manufacturing.

Policy

1. The international standard "Performance evaluation methods for household and similar purpose robots," led by China in its formulation, provides a unified performance evaluation framework for the global household robotics industry. The standard covers 11 core test items, including obstacle avoidance, slope operation, and energy consumption.

2. The National Health Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, issued a notice on September 1, stating that the per capita government subsidy standard for basic public health service funding will be 99 yuan in 2026. It requires all localities to fully implement and manage the use of funds in accordance with regulations, and to ensure equal access to basic public health services.

Data

1. After three years of pilots and a further three years of special campaigns, the disease‑based payment system now covers almost all eligible regions and medical institutions in China. In 2025, it covered 91.8 percent of all inpatient discharges under medical insurance, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration.

2. Loan growth in areas such as technological innovation remained robust in the first half of the year. By the end of June, 305,600 small and medium‑sized tech firms had received credit support. The overall loan‑access rate for such enterprises stood at 50.8 percent nationwide, up 0.6 percentage points from the end of last year, the People's Bank of China said.

3. China's trade with other Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states grew 14.9 percent year on year to RMB 2.42 trillion in the January–July period, according to customs statistics.

4. China's software sector generated RMB 8.98 trillion in revenue in the first seven months this year, a 9.2-percent increase from a year earlier, while profits rose 1.3 percent year-on-year to RMB 1.04 trillion and software exports climbed 12.2 percent year-on-year to USD 40.61 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

5. China's installed photovoltaic (PV) power capacity has surpassed coal-fired power capacity for the first time, making PV the country's largest power source by installed capacity, the National Energy Administration said recently. China's installed PV power capacity reached 1.286 billion kilowatts at the end of July, accounting for 31.5 percent of China’s total installed power generation capacity.

6. China's trade with Egypt grew 18.7 percent year-on-year to RMB 95.19 yuan in the January-July period, with exports up 17.5 percent and imports jumping 49.4 percent, according to customs data.

7. China's railways handled approximately 954 million passenger trips during the 62-day summer travel surge this year, according to China State Railway Group.

8. The Datengxia water resources management facility in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has generated 30 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity as of September 1, while maintaining continuous safe operation for more than 2,300 days, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

9. The Beijing Stock Exchange celebrated its fifth anniversary on September 2, now home to 339 listed companies with a total market capitalization of about RMB 840 billion. The number of qualified investors has exceeded 11 million, nearly three times the figure at the time of launch, while average daily trading volume has surged to RMB 20 billion.

10. A China‑Europe freight train carrying machinery, new energy parts, and general merchandise left Alashankou (Alataw Pass) railway port at 5 p.m. on September 2, heading for Malaszewicze, Poland. With this departure, the port in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region had recorded a combined total of more than 6,000 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train trips.

(Source: Economic Daily)