The Bank of China (BOC) has
said that, by the end of June this year, it had approved more than $140 billion
of credit and funded over 600 major projects under the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI).
Over the past
few years, it has continuously invested in economies along the Silk Road
Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (jointly known as the
BRI), according to the bank.
It has
established overseas institutions in 24 countries and regions associated with
the initiative.Since 2015, the BOC, which is the fourth-largest commercial
lender by assets in China, has issued BRI themed bonds five times in seven
currencies, with a total value of $14.6 billion.
The interest of
international investors, particularly European, in BRI-themed bonds has grown
significantly in the past few years, according to the lender.
Dubbed the 21st
century Silk Road project, the BRI was announced by Chinese President Xi
Jinping six years ago. Since then, Beijing has signed 173 agreements with 125
countries, including developed and developing countries, and 29 international
organizations.
China’s trade with countries
participating in its ambitious initiative has reached 4.24 trillion yuan ($591
billion) in the first half of this year.The multi-trillion-dollar initiative
aims to boost connectivity and cooperation between Asia, Europe, Africa, and
Latin America. Experts say it will significantly boost global commerce, cutting
trading costs by half for the countries involved.
Source: RT