3. What about Chinese support and grants to Jordan?
With constantly increasing inter-linkage and interdependence among countries, human beings now live in the same global village. Achieving common development is the shared aspiration of people all over the world. It is also a moral obligation of humanity. As a developing country, while committed to its own development, China provides assistance within its capacity to other developing countries in need, helping recipient countries to enhance their capacities of self-sustained development, improve people’s lives, and achieve common development.
China’s foreign aid is based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, honouring commitments, delivering solid outcomes and development-centred, with no political conditions attached. It is an important part of global South-South cooperation and a vivid showcase of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Jordan is also a benevolent country, hosting a large number of refugees from the region, and is widely acclaimed by the international community.
China has provided various types of assistance to Jordan for years, including grants, concessional loans, infrastructure projects, and human resource development. China also provides assistance to refugees hosted by Jordan through multilateral institutions such as the World Food Program. After the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, China donated batches of supplies to Jordan.
Overcoming its own difficulties, China donated and provided much-needed vaccines to the Jordanian people, supporting Jordan’s fight against the pandemic, its economic recovery and return to normal life. We will continue to provide Jordan with assistance within our capacity on the basis of full consideration of Jordan’s needs and full consultation with Jordanian partners.
4. How will the Belt and Road Initiative affect economic cooperation between the two countries?
Since President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI) in 2013, thanks to wide participation and joint efforts of all parties, this important initiative has grown from concept to practice, and achieved positive results and progress, bringing huge opportunities and dividend to countries around the world. The cumulative trade volume between China and BRI partners has exceeded 9.2 trillion US dollars, and the cumulative direct investment of Chinese companies in partner countries has exceeded 130 billion US dollars.
A World Bank report says that full implementation of the BRI will increase global trade volume and global income by 6.2% and 2.9% respectively. By 2030, it is expected to lift 7.6 million people around the world out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty.
Last year, despite the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, Belt and Road cooperation did not come to a halt. It braved the headwinds and continued to move forward, showing remarkable resilience and vitality. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, in the first half of the year, trade of goods between China and Belt and Road partners hit 5.35 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.5%, outpacing the overall growth rate of China’s foreign trade and accounting for 29.6% of the total trade volume. Non-financial direct investment was 62 billion yuan, an increase of 8.6%, lifting the proportion out of total national foreign investment to 17.8%.
It can be said that the pandemic has exacerbated the predicament of global economic and trade cooperation, but it also reflects the significant role of the BRI. On the one hand, it has promoted inter-connectivity. China has launched “Silk Road E-commerce” cooperation with 22 partner countries, which has enabled smooth flow of trade during the pandemic. The number of China-Europe freight trains connecting the Eurasian continent has reached a record high, hailed as “steel camel caravans”. On the other hand, it has promoted inclusive growth.
Belt and Road cooperation is guided by the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. It practices the concept of openness, greenness and cleanliness. And it is aimed at high-standard, people-centered and sustainable growth, providing new thinking, new ideas, and new paths for global economic recovery and transformation of growth dynamics.
China appreciates Jordan’s active participation in the BRI and is ready to work with Jordan for continued high-quality development of the initiative, better aligning development strategies of the two countries, further promoting economic trade and investment exchanges, increasing the level of connectivity and launching more cooperation projects to help Jordan overcome the pandemic, revive the economy, and improve people’s livelihood and well-being at an early date.
Source: Jordan News Agency