(Yicai) Dec. 2 -- China has been increasing its overseas investment via the Belt and Road Initiative, and entrepreneurs and scholars at a recent forum agreed that the BRI is supporting global development needs such as green transformation and technological cooperation.

This investment has supported progress in areas such as transport and e-commerce in Africa, said participants at the ninth International Academic Forum on the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Governance, which ran from Nov. 28 to 29. 

The forum was co-organized and co-hosted by Fudan University under the theme of Expanding the Broadness and Depth of the Belt and Road. It also held parallel activities such as an Entrepreneur Forum, drawing together representatives from fields such as infrastructure and technology to explore the opportunities and challenges of cooperation in the new era.

Non-financial direct investment in BRI member countries by Chinese firms was USD32.7 billion from January to October, up over 21 percent from a year earlier, per commerce ministry statistics. 

The value of newly signed contracts for overseas projects amounted to USD186.3 billion, a 24 percent jump, the figures also showed, with completed turnover reaching USD112.35 billion, an 8.6 percent gain. 

China has helped Africa improve transportation, create jobs, and cultivate talent through projects such as the Tanzania-Zambia Railway and the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Ethiopia, Zhang Baiqin, overseas department general manager at China Railway 24th Bureau Group, said at the forum.

The renewal project for the Tanzania-Zambia railroad commenced on Nov. 20, Xinhua News Agency reported, with the two countries and China cooperating to create a modern high-quality rail project to promote regional connectivity and industrial upgrading.

Efforts are needed to promote the integration of digital infrastructure and traditional facilities, said Prof. Chen Xi from Zhejiang International Studies University, who added that it is also advisable to enhance management capability through digital pilot projects, and to build a sustainable industrial chain.

Cooperation in emerging fields is also notable, with the African e-commerce market showing huge potential, said He Liehui, chairman of Shanghai-based Touchroad International Holdings Group. 

E-commerce in Africa has been developing quickly, partly thanks to the demographic dividend from the large share of young people in the continent’s population, he noted. Start-ups in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya have been highly active, and have launched unique e-commerce platforms.

The African e-commerce market will slightly more than double in size from last year to 2029, and the number of users will reach 518 million this year, TechCabal Insights predicted in a recent report. But improvements are still needed in the local industrial chain, as well as in transport and telecoms infrastructure, the report said, adding that Chinese companies can play a role in developing local manufacturing.

Shen Peipei, a representative of the Europe-China Science and Technology Economic and Trade Federation, and Yang Kejian, general manager of Harbin International Commodity Trading Center, both said that the BRI has brought mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Europe as well as between China and Russia, in areas such as energy and agriculture. 

Cultural and artistic exchanges should also become an important part of the cooperation to help enhance people-to-people bonds and economic growth, Guo Lian, a former member of the executive committee of China Development Bank, pointed out.

Editor: Tom Litting