Chinese enterprises invested less in countries and regions along the "One Belt, One Road" (Belt and Road) initiative in January, with total non-financial investment of $820 million, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a statement on Monday.
Chinese enterprises' direct investment in non-financial sectors of 36 countries and regions along the route of the initiative reached $820 million in January, down 29.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 10.6 percent of total investment over the same period, according to the MOFCOM statement.
The investment mainly went to Singapore, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Russia and other countries and regions.
Chinese enterprises signed 339 new contracts with 61 countries and regions along the Road and Belt route in January, MOFCOM data showed.
The contracts amounted to $5.67 billion, or 47.4 percent of China's total contract value over the same period, down 50.6 percent year-on-year.
Turnover of? those projects was $3.7 billion, taking up 45.2 percent of the total, up 5.7 percent year-on-year.
Construction linked to the initiative should be pursued solidly and China will "adhere to the principles of joint discussion, construction and sharing," said Premier Li Keqiang in the government work report on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the 12th National People's Congress.
The "friend circle" of the initiative is expanding. So far, more than 100 countries and international organizations have joined, with more than 40 having signed cooperation contracts with China, Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the fifth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said at a press conference Thursday.
Also, 20 countries and regions along the route have established 56 economic and trade cooperation zones, aimed at creating a cooperative platform for international industry and equipment manufacturing, leading Chinese enterprises to go out in a group mode.
The combined investment for the zones has exceeded $18 billion.
