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Silk Road Will Create a New Economic Map, Chinese Official Says
19 October 2013
(EIRNS)—Zhao Changhui, the chief analyst of the China Export-Import Bank, interviewed on China Radio International today, said that the New Silk Road proposed by President Xi Jinping had the potential of creating a "new economic map in the heartland of Eurasia." "The New Silk Road will be very beneficial to the countries of Central Asia, to the countries around the Caspian Sea and to Eastern Europe," Zhao said. "Xinjiang, Ningxia, and our other western regions in China could become prosperous centers along the New Silk Road." He added, "Afghanistan and Pakistan could also join in." "Trade in the region has grown dramatically, especially in the last five years since the collapse of Wall Street," he said. "Trade has been prominently focused on mineral and energy production. Now this economic cooperation will become broader and more extensive. It is a very fertile region, and agricultural production will play a greater role in the export of these countries. China will add more factories to the region, thus varying their production. China may begin importing electricity from Tajikistan," Zhao said. "We can see a more diversified baseline for the western regions. Kazakhstan has been growing very quickly, with a 9.8% rate of growth last month. Our western regions will become more integrated with this. This Silk Road development will eventually be reaching to the shores of the Black Sea and to southern and eastern Europe," he said. When asked whether China should work toward a free-trade zone with these countries, Zhao said that China should proceed patiently. "Politics in these countries are very complicated. Tajikistan, for instance, has problems with its neighbors over |