On Feb. 26, the Report on the Construction and Development of China’s Overseas Industrial Parks Under the Belt and Road Initiative (2018) was released at the Symposium on the Development of China’s Overseas Industrial Parks, co-hosted by East China Normal University, China Social Sciences Press and Shanghai Association of Development Zones.

Jointly compiled by the Institute of Urban Development at East China Normal University and the Shanghai Association of Development Zones, the report provides a comprehensive ranking of the development of China’s industrial parks in the countries and regions along six big economic corridors in the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative, based on an evaluation index system.

The group that compiled the report proposed establishing and improving the overseas investment ecosystem while pushing forward the construction of Belt and Road overseas industrial parks, including collection and sorting of authoritative data as well as performance evaluation and amendment of implementation plans.

Zeng Gang, director of the Institute of Urban Development at East China Normal University, said that the “Belt and Road” initiative has become a major strategic component of China’s further opening to the outside world and a top-level design framework of economic diplomacy, as well as the most important platform for international cooperation in the world in the new era. China has signed intergovernmental cooperation agreements with nearly 70 countries to co-build the Belt and Road. It was in this context that the report was completed, Zeng said.

The report indicates that most leading parks lie in countries with a solid industrial base and social stability, such as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, while most backward ones are in countries with a weaker industrial base and bigger risks.

Most industrial parks and enterprises that China has invested in overseas are in neighboring countries. For example, the top 10 countries along the Belt and Road ranked by the number of Chinese-invested enterprises are Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, India, Kazakhstan and Myanmar.

This article was edited and translated from China Economic Times.

(Edited and translated by Yu Hui)