On December 16, Meng Wei, spokesperson for the National Reform and Development Commission (NDRC), said that China has signed over 200 BRI cooperation documents with 145 countries and 32 international organizations.

At the press conference held that day, Meng Wei said that China has recently signed intergovernmental BRI cooperation documents with African countries, such as the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Burkina Faso, and Sao Tome and Principe. In addition, the first meeting of the China-African Union Coordination Mechanism for Implementing the BRI was held not long ago. The two sides discussed the cooperation in fields such as COVID-19 response, food, energy, investment in industrial capacity, infrastructure, quality standards and statistics, and deepened common understanding. In the meeting, the two sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China and the African Union Commission on the Establishment of the Coordination Mechanism for Cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative.

She also introduced that in November alone, the China-Europe freight train had operated 1,246 trains, transporting 120,000 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 1% and 4% respectively, and the overall heavy container rate was 99.4%. It continued to operate at a high level, with more than a thousand trains running in a single month for 19 consecutive months. From January to November, a total of 13,817 China-Europe freight trains were operated, transporting 1.332 million TEUs, an increase of 23% and 30% year-on-year respectively, and the comprehensive heavy container rate was 98.1%. As of the end of November, a total of 47,414 China-Europe freight trains had operated, transporting 4.297 million TEUs of goods and 13.43 million anti-epidemic materials, totaling 103,000 tons.

(Reporters: Xie Xiyao, Yan Yilin)