People's Daily, Beijing, August 9 (Reporter Huang Sheng) "State-owned central enterprises have invested in more than 5,000 cooperation projects in countries and regions participating in the joint construction of the 'Belt and Road'. Central enterprises have become an important force for my country to participate in international competition and cooperation and to jointly build the 'Belt and Road' with high quality." Recently, Wang Hongzhi, deputy director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, said this at a press conference held by the State Information Office.
The reporter learned that while improving the level of international operations, state-owned central enterprises have created important economic and social value for the countries and regions participating in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
In terms of infrastructure cooperation, traditional infrastructure cooperation has been steadily advanced, new infrastructure cooperation has been actively carried out, and a number of landmark projects and demonstration projects have been built. For example, since the opening of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway nine months ago, it has sent more than 4 million passengers, the overseas service network of telecommunications companies has spread across more than 40 co-construction countries, and the Asia-Europe Submarine Cable No. 5 project has greatly improved the communication capabilities along the line.
In terms of agricultural industry cooperation, we will continue to deepen technical cooperation in the fields of grain and seed industry, innovate to increase crop yields and improve the level of agricultural modernization. For example, in the economic and trade cooperation between China and Thailand, COFCO Group and Charoen Pokphand Group recently signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement, focusing on strengthening in-depth cooperation in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, jointly exploring and coordinating participation in international market trade, and complementing resources and deepening cooperation in warehousing and logistics, scientific and technological innovation, etc., to create a more resilient agricultural and food industry chain supply chain, and promote China and Thailand to accelerate the modernization, low-carbonization and green transformation of the agricultural and food industry.
In terms of the benefits to the people, central enterprises have actively carried out livelihood projects in countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative, creating jobs for nearly one million people. For example, the Hualong One project in Pakistan, which was invested and constructed, meets the electricity needs of 2 million local people; the urban water supply project in Cote d'Ivoire has benefited 2.3 million people; COFCO Group has established COFCO Biochemical Thailand Company in Thailand since 2012, with a total investment of 500 million yuan so far, providing more than 200 jobs for the local area and creating 200 million baht in tax revenue for Thailand each year.
Industry insiders said that state-owned central enterprises will thoroughly implement the policy, give full play to their advantages and strengths, deepen open cooperation, accelerate the high-quality development of corporate international operations, and promote the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" to move forward steadily.