Landmark projects harvest

Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in 2013. Looking back at 2016, we can see the bid to reinvigorate the ancient trade routes has gained some early achievements in promoting connectivity and new opportunities.

"If we say 2013 was the year of proposal, 2014 was the year of the guideline, 2015 the year of the top-level design, then 2016 was the year of implementing the first landmark projects of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Zhao Lei, a professor at China's Central Party School.

The trains that run between China and Europe are a good example of these early achievements. By June 2016, trains had run nearly 2,000 times between China and Europe, transporting goods with a total import and export value of $17 billion.