China’s Ministry of Commerce has stated that Chinese non-financial investment in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative reached US$12.78 billion during the first 11 months of 2019, equating to an average monthly investment of US1.16 billion per month. Non-financial investments include real estate and commodities.

Currently, China is working with both hardware and software connectivity in the construction of the digital Silk Road. Along with providing its own development experience in hardware connectivity, such as the creation of the world's leading high-quality smart grid, it is also helping Belt and Road participating countries to bridge the digital divide through digital infrastructure construction and the digitalization of traditional infrastructure. These cooperation projects are extensive and are writing a new chapter in history.

For nearly six years, the Belt and Road initiative has been among the most discussed multilateral projects in the world, but in spite of this, there remain some fundamental misunderstandings about just what Belt and Road is.

China’s foreign trade volume hit a historic high in 2018, a sign that the economy remained resilient despite growing external uncertainties.

Beijing ranks in first place in a list of cities that produced the most high-quality research in 2017, and nine other Chinese cities made the top 50, according to the Nature Index 2018 Science Cities, a supplement of the British scientific journal Nature, published on Thursday.