(Yicai) Oct. 10 -- More than 150 countries and 30 international organizations have taken part in China’s Belt and Road Initiative since it was launched in 2013, said Cong Liang, the vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission today.

China has been constantly deepening economic and trade relations with nations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative over the last 10 years, according to a white paper issued by the State Council Information Office today.

Some USD19.1 trillion of goods were traded between China and nations along the Belt and Road route from 2013 to last year, the paper said. Two-way trade has grown at an average annual rate of 6.4 percent, faster than the growth in China’s foreign trade as well as global trade over the period.

Investment between China and Belt and Road countries amounted to over USD380 billion in the past decade. China invested more than USD240 billion in Belt and Road countries in different areas of economic and social development. China has also worked with these nations to build a series of economic and trade cooperation zones, investing over USD60 billion as of the end of 2022.

And Belt and Road countries are also actively investing in China. They have invested over USD140 billion over the period and set up almost 67,000 companies in China.

China is continuously strengthening tie-ups with Belt and Road countries. It has inked 21 free-trade agreements with 28 countries and regions and also penned treaties with 112 nations and regions to avoid double taxation. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s biggest trade pact, is now effective in 15 nations.

China will continue to promote the Belt and Road Initiative as its overarching plan and its top-level design for opening up and win-win international cooperation, said the white paper. The country will open up on a larger scale, across more areas and in greater depth, and provide new opportunities for the world with high-quality new development, it added.

The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing later this month, said Li Kexin, director-general of the Department of International Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So far, representatives from more than 130 countries and 30 international organizations have confirmed their attendance.

Editors：Shi Yi, Kim Taylor