EMPLOYEES at a company located in Pingxiang City in Jiangxi Province worked at full speed to produce post insulator products to complete the growing orders from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

“Our traditional market was greatly affected by COVID-19, so we started to exploit new markets and have witnessed a year-on-year increase of export volume with Belt and Road countries,” said Zhang Xuchang, chairman of Sinoma Jiangxi Insulator and Electricity Co.

The company’s business expansion mirrors the energetic development of enterprises in China’s central region amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Jiangxi’s import and export volume with Belt and Road countries and regions reached 170.62 billion yuan (US$26.05 billion), accounting for 42.5 percent of the province’s total foreign trade.

Amid the booming trade with the Belt and Road countries, more and more enterprises in the central region are going abroad to accelerate integration into the BRI.

JinkoSolar Holding Co., a leading solar module manufacturer in Jiangxi, set up a production base and research and development center in Malaysia, and over 80 percent of its 6,000 employees are locals.

“Our photovoltaic products have reached almost all Belt and Road countries. Our projects have not only created a large number of job opportunities but also brought advanced technologies and research and development concepts to them,” said Qian Jing, vice president of the company.

“Such cooperation projects have brought tangible benefits to people from countries along the Belt and Road,” said Xie Yiping, director of the Jiangxi provincial department of commerce, adding that “China’s central region will give full play to its geographical advantage to promote high-quality development of the BRI through a higher-level opening up.”(Xinhua)