BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) – China has achieved fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road routes in 2018, said Gao Feng, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce, on January 24.
He noted that a high-standard free trade zone (FTZ) network between China and B&R countries is forming rapidly.
For instance, he pointed out, the China-Georgia free trade agreement (FTA) has come into force, and China has finished FTA negotiation with Mauritius, signed FTA upgrading protocol with Singapore and economic and trade cooperation agreement with Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and achieved progress in the negotiation of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
He also pointed out that China's non-financial direct investment in B&R countries reached 15.64 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 8.9 percent year on year, while these countries' direct investment in China rose by 11.9 percent year on year to 6.08 billion U.S. dollars.
According to Gao, China will further open its market in 2019 to promote economic and trade cooperation between China and B&R countries. (Edited by Gu Shanshan)
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