In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the «Belt and Road Initiative» (BRI), aiming at building a new platform for international cooperation and creating new momentum for shared development. Since then, the BRI has opened a path for high quality development and common prosperity for countries along the route, becoming a real global platform serving more than half of the world’s population.

The potential for trade between two of the world’s most important economic areas — Asia and Europe — looks set to grow alongside rising global trade volumes, even in the face of considerable headwinds including the economic fallout of ongoing geopolitical tensions.