Today, April 25, in Beijing, the People's Republic of China, a Ukrainian delegation led by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv took part in the Second International Belt and Road Forum.

In his speech, Stepan Kubiv noted that the project Belt and Road Initiative aims to strengthen geopolitical cooperation between Asia and Europe, which is why Ukraine plays a crucial role in its implementation.

"Ukraine is a strategically important logistical hub between Asia and Europe. The best approach to further developing the Chinese express to Europe, about which the Government of the People's Republic of China says, is to create routes throughout Ukraine. We offer our Chinese colleagues a joint project portfolio: development of port infrastructure, alternative energy facilities, construction of highways and bridges, development of railway and airport facilities, high technologies, cooperation in the aerospace sector, processing of agricultural products", Stepan Kubiv emphasized.

The First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine added that Chinese specialists had had consultations with their Ukrainian counterparts on the participation of Ukraine and the PRC in the construction of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), which would ensure the delivery of cargoes from China to the EU countries.

"Ukraine is ready to offer cost-effective transport routes on the territory of Ukraine to connect China with the countries of Europe, and also to establish cooperation between enterprises of Ukraine and China, with the further sale of products in the markets of the EU. We are also ready to develop cooperation on modernizing the Ukrainian industry and creating joint production facilities. In fact, it concerns establishing the foundations for building a trade and industrial corridor China-Ukraine-EU", stressed Stepan Kubiv.

Background 

The One Belt, One Road (Belt and Road Initiative) is the global initiative of the Chinese Government on trade, economic, cultural, scientific and technological cooperation. As part of the initiative, the most ambitious transport and logistics project of the 21st century is being built that would connect China and Western European countries. In the development of countries along the New Silk Road, China plans to invest $ 800 billion by 2020. It is anticipated that the trade turnover between China and the countries participating in the initiative will amount to $ 2.5 trillion.