Vice-premier vows to advance modern Silk Road

China will make every effort to advance major cooperation projects that have been signed with countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt to bring tangible results to local residents, Vice-Premier Wang Yang said on Monday.

The economic belt, which comprises more than 50 countries and could benefit more than 3.8 billion people, requires countries to work together to develop trade and lay out goals one step at a time, Wang said during Monday's opening ceremony of the China-Eurasia Expo. The expo, which runs through Sept 6, is being held in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

In September last year, President Xi Jinping proposed during a visit to Kazakhstan that China and other countries build a modern Silk Road Economic Belt to boost cooperation and essentially revive the ancient trade route linking China and Europe that dates back more than 2,000 years.