Since 2026, China has opened multiple direct foreign trade routes to Latin America, Southeast Asia and other places, and international container shipping routes have covered more than 100 countries and regions around the world. The construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has made positive progress.

Recently, the first weekly route from Fujian to the east coast of South America was officially opened, adding a new channel for maritime connectivity between China and countries along the the Belt and Road. This route can directly reach the five major ports on the east coast of Brazil, and further reach the ports of Argentina, Uruguay and other countries jointly building the the Belt and Road through seamless special line extension. Provide strong support for foreign trade enterprises to consolidate traditional markets and expand into emerging markets such as South America. After the opening of this route, the shipping time to South America will be nearly halved and more stable. Preliminary estimates suggest that it will drive a growth of about 20% in our product exports.

Behind each new route is the continuous weaving of maritime connectivity networks. Currently, based on exploring the construction of Silk Road maritime transportation in Fujian and other places, China is actively promoting the integrated development of Silk Road maritime ports and trade, and improving the efficiency of port connectivity along the route.

At the same time, focusing on the needs of the people's livelihood in the joint construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, China has implemented a large number of small and beautiful projects with low investment, benefiting people's livelihoods, and good results. The meteorological intelligent warning Mazu system has trained over 1000 professionals in more than 100 countries and has been implemented in 7 countries. It will be expanded to 30 countries in the future. By improving planting techniques and enhancing soil fertility, the Science and Technology Academy has helped to double the corn yield in relevant areas.

The construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has effectively promoted China's economic and trade cooperation with countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and other regions to a new level. China continues to maintain its position as the largest trading partner of ASEAN and the second largest trading partner in Latin America, with steady improvement in the scale, quality, and efficiency of economic and trade cooperation.

This article is reproduced from: National Development and Reform Commission      Editor/Gao Xue