BEIJING: China invested about $14.5 billion in countries along Belt and the Road Initiative routes last year – about 8.5 per cent of the country’s total overseas investment.

According to an inspector at the Comprehensive Department of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce Song Lihong, great achievements had been made in the three years since the initiative was launched.

Representatives from 93 think tanks and research institutes in China participated in a meeting on Belt and Road development hosted by Renmin University’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies.

Song said China had already signed agreements to cooperate with 14 countries stretching from Asia to Europe.

It had also built 56 trade parks in more than 20 countries. Last year, China’s trade volume with countries along the Belt and Road reached 6.3 trillion yuan ($917 billion).

A large number of infrastructure projects were either operating or under construction.

China had developed people-to-people exchanges in related countries, including setting up education scholarships for students to study in China, and strengthening cooperation with colleges.