In 2021, China further deepened economic and trade cooperation with the BRI countries and made new contributions to the high-quality development of BRI.
In 2021, China' trade in goods with the BRI countries totaled 11.6 trillion yuan, a new high over the past eight years and a year-on-year increase of 23.6 percent, accounting for 29.7 percent of China's total foreign trade. The new business forms like cross-border e-commerce experienced rapid growth, and a number of overseas warehouses were built up and put into operation. The number of China-Europe freight train trips hit 15,000 with an increase of 22 percent year on year.
In 2021, China's direct investment to the BRI countries totaled 138.45 billion yuan, up 7.9 percent year on year, accounting for 14.8 percent of the total outbound investment. The direct investment from the BRI countries in China reached 11.25 billion U.S. dollars that exceeded the 10-billion record for the first time. The BRI projects are in smooth progress. The business turnover of Chinese enterprises of the contracted projects in the BRI countries registered 578.57 billion yuan that accounted for 57.9 percent of the total contracted overseas projects.