DUSHANBE, 10.01.2020. (NIAT Khovar) – President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon was one of the first to support President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This statement was made by the Tajik delegation during a meeting with the Chinese Fujian province officials, reports Khovar’s leading journalist Akramkhoja Akbar.

From December 29, 2019 through January 7 of this year, journalists from the countries along the BRI took part in an media tour  “Experience China and the BRI’s Joint Construction” at the invitation of the China News Service. The Chief Editor of Narodnaya Gazeta Mahbuba Kamolova and Khovar’s leading journalist Akramkhoja Akbar represented Tajikistan.

Over 20 journalists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Egypt, Romania, South Korea and the Czech Republic also participated in this media tour which aimed to strengthen media cooperation.

The tour, which was divided into two parts, included an excursion through Guangdong — Hong Kong — Macau Gulf region and the central zone of the 21st Century Sea Silk Road in the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian.  The first program included visits to the social, economic, cultural and historical sites of the cities of Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Huizhou of Guangdong Province and the second — the cities of Xiamen, Juanzhou and Fuzhou of Fujian Province.

Guangzhou Huangpu High-Tech Zone

The tour through the Guangzhou Huangpu high-tech zone which includes the scientific exhibition hall, Leafun Culture Science and Technology Co. Ltd, Yihang UAV Company, Kanyun Tech Company and Hiege Tech Company, showcased the latest technological products, including drones, industrial robots and palm recognition technology.

“With a philosophy of integrating culture with technology, [Leafun] provides its customers with innovative solutions and comprehensive technical support for art and cultural events, construction of cultural facilities, cultural and recreational tourism, cultural exhibitions and urban cultural landscapes based on its experience in professional audio devices, lighting, video production and integrated control,” said the company’s representative.

“In his speech at the summit of the second round table of the international cooperation forum “One Belt, One Road” in 2019, President Xi Jinping expressed a great desire to work with all countries along this initiative to achieve a common goal, that is, peace and prosperity. After many years of joint efforts, the fundamental work towards the implementation of the initiative has been successfully completed,” noted the senior official of the Guangdong Provincial Information Bureau Deng Hong during the meeting between the local city officials and foreign media representatives.

Hong noted that China is making great strides to build the BRI and bring great benefits to people of all countries.

“All parties must adhere to the principles of openness, green and clean governance, follow high standards, achieve sustainable goals and achieve high-quality development of the BRI,” Hong said, noting that Guangdong is the largest economic and trade province in the southernmost part of mainland China.

“As the birthplace of the Sea Silk Road, Guangdong is a pioneer of China’s reform and opening up. In 2018, its GDP level reached $1.47 trillion, accounting for 10.8% of the national GDP. The provincial population totals 113 million people and GDP per capita is $13,000,” noted Hong.

Guangdong’s foreign trade turnover exceeds $1 trillion, which is about a quarter of China’s total volume.

Guangdong is currently contributing to the deep integration of media development and is putting effort into creating new mainstream media.

“We hope to strengthen communication and exchange of information with friends from the media present here, to facilitate the exchange of information and cooperation, and to make the BRI more fruitful,” said Hong.

Zhuhai City

While in Zhuhai, which is located on the southern coast of the Chinese province of Guangdong, on the western side of the Pearl River estuary, media representatives were acquainted with the Hong Kong – Zhuhai — Macau bridge (HZMB), and also visited the planning exhibition hall, underground engineering tunnel, and the Macau Youth Venture Valley in the new Hengqin Economic Area.

“The Chinese provinces and cities welcome the creation of joint ventures in other countries to accelerate their socio-economic development,” stated a Zhuhai official at the official meeting with media representatives.

“Zhuhai is an important channel of the Sea Silk Road and a source of interaction between Chinese and Western cultural corridors. After 40 years of development, Zhuhai has evolved from a border city into a modern coastal garden-style city,” said another local official.

The HZMB is the first mega infrastructure project built jointly by the three regional governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao under the “one country, two systems” policy. Its construction started in December, 2009, and it has been open to traffic since October, 2018.

The bridge consists of a series of bridges and underwater tunnels that cross the Pearl River Delta, as well as access ramps and checkpoints. It has reduced travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to 30 minutes.

The HZMB is the longest cross-sea bridge in the world, and has the longest steel bridge as well as the longest underwater immersed tunnel. It is the most technically challenging highway bridge project with the largest construction scale to date in the history of highways, and the difficulty and complexity of its construction can be ranked among the highest in the world. It will become a showcase of China’s infrastructure construction strength and a new testimonial for the BRI. The three cities will be connected directly for the first time, promoting the flow of people, goods, capital and information, as well as facilitating cooperation in transportation, trade and economy, technological innovation, tourism, cultural exchange, etc.

Huizhou City

The tour through the Huizhou city included visiting Mount Luofu, the Luofushan Medical Company, as well as TCL Corporation and Desay SV Company.

Luofu Mountain is 70 km from Huizhou and is one of the largest and highest mountains in Guangdong Province. Its highest altitude is 1296 meters above sea level.

There are more than 980 small waterfalls on the mountain, with over 1200 species of various plants used in Chinese traditional medicine growing there. Mandarins, broomsticks, lychees, dragon’s eyes and oranges also grow in abundance on the mountain.

Luofushan Medical Company is one of the largest Chinese drug manufacturing enterprises, with high annual production capacity and sales of more than 500 million yuan.

The TCL Corporation, which was founded in 1981 and currently employs 75,000, includes within it four enterprises: TCL Multimedia Holdings, TCL Communication Holdings, China Star Optoelectronics Technology and TCL Home Appliances Group. The company designs and manufactures televisions, mobile phones, HVAC equipment, telecommunications equipment, washing machines, refrigerators, and other household appliances. In terms of the production of television panels in the Global LCD TV manufacturer ranking, it ranks in third place. TCL has 23 research and development centers in China, the US, France, Singapore and owns 20 production bases around the world.

While visiting Desay, which employs 4,000 with offices in Nanjing, Chengdu, Singapore, Europe and Japan and which is currently one of the leading automotive electronics companies, media representatives were told that the company has established long-term partnerships with the Volkswagen Group, Mazda, FAW Group, SAIC Group, Geely Auto, Great Wall Motors, GAC Group, Chery, Volvo Cars, NIO, and XPENG.

After visiting these companies, the Boluo County’s official representative Mok Bin noted that Huizhou is considered a key economic development area in Guangdong that has become a newly industrialized city in the east of the Pearl River Delta. As a national historical and cultural city, Huizhou was the “important city in eastern Guangdong” in the Suitang dynasties with a history dating back more than 1000 years.

Xiamen City

As part of the tour’s second program, which began in Xiamen, Fujian Province, which is also Dushanbe’s sister city, media representatives were taken to the Xiamen Port, — the 7th largest in China and the 14th largest in the world.

Xiamen port is located at the mouth of the Jiulong River in the south of Fujian, on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait off the southeast coast of China. This port is a first-class port open to the outside world, as well as one of the main ports in Fujian province.

Xiamen port mainly includes the business of containerized bulk cargo, general cargo transportation and international cruises for passengers in Taiwan, as well as the development of modern logistics and shipping services.

«In 2018, Xiamen port opened a total of 146 sea routes, including 92 international. The port transported more than 10 million TEU containers and served 8.62 million passengers,» informed the Deputy Director General of the Fujian Silk Road Maritime Management Company Alan Lee, adding that in 2019, the port established cooperation with 15 ports in the US, Germany, Ukraine, Spain, South Korea, Belgium, and Malaysia.

“There are 50 named sea routes of the Silk Road, covering the two ports of Xiamen and operating on the Sea Silk Road. We carry out trade between China and countries along the 21st Century Sea Silk Road,» said Alan Lee.

As of November 30, 2019 over 1600 sea voyages have been  opened, with the volume of container traffic reaching 1.406 million TEU, which is 10,4% more than the same period last year.

Quanzhou and Fuzhou Cities

In Quanzhou and Fuzhou in Fujian Province, journalists visited the Museum of the History of Foreign Transport, the Museum of the Intangible Heritage, Jiuri Mount, Luoyang Bridge, Qingjing and Kaiyuan Temples, Fuzhou City Planning Exhibition Hall, Kulian Tourist Zone, Jasmine Tea factory and the Mini Opera.

During the meeting with the local officials, the Tajik delegation noted that President Emomali Rahmon was one of the first to support the Belt and Road Initiative.

Recall that during his speech at the round table at the second international forum “One Belt, One Road” held on April 27, 2019 in China, President Emomali Rahmon noted that Tajikistan attaches great importance to the BRI’s successful implementation and is ready to cooperate within this project with all interested countries.

«The participation of Tajikistan in this initiative, as a landlocked country, contributes to the development of its transit potential,» noted then Emomali Rahmon.

“This initiative can help Tajikistan to implement its National Development Strategy for the period up to 2030 and also achieve its Sustainable Development Goals. The implementation of this large-scale project will allow Tajikistan to gain access to new markets along more advantageous routes through new transport and economic corridors, generate additional income through further industrialization,” he added.

Akramkhoja Akbar,
Khovar news agency,
Dushanbe-Guangdong-
Fujian-Dushanbe