Building a strong BRI ecosystem

Ada Leung, director of ACCA China

A1 Statistics show that China's trade and investment with other economies along the Belt and Road routes have maintained strong momentum, with the total trade volume rising to $6.98 trillion in 2017 from that in 2013. The trade growth with relevant countries was faster than the overall growth of China's foreign trade. As for infrastructure connectivity, projects including the China-Laos Railway, China-Thailand Railway and Port of Piraeus are progressing. The China-Europe freight trains, connecting China with 50 cities in 15 European countries, had made more than 14,000 trips by the end of March.

A2 The BRI is contributing to continued strong and sustainable growth in China while simultaneously benefiting from new commercial opportunities. We believe primary opportunities lie in infrastructure, finance and professional services, energy and resources, advanced manufacturing and transport, e-commerce and logistics. The UK and China have many synergies, such as UK and Chinese companies having complementary skill sets for international infrastructure projects.

A3 ACCA is committed to ensuring that our members are best placed to navigate BRI opportunities and uncertainties. We equip ACCA professional accountants with international expertise and a global mindset. We have a presence in 24 out of the Belt and Road economies, meaning ACCA is best positioned to support all our stakeholders - members, employers, educators, governments and policymakers - in capitalizing on the vast potential of this extraordinary undertaking.

A4 In ACCA's latest global study "How accountants can bridge the global infrastructure gap", respondents to the member survey were also asked what they saw as the biggest barriers to meeting the infrastructure needs of their countries. A few of the top global barriers were a lack of political leadership, a lack of finance or funding, and planning and regulatory barriers.

In response to these barriers, this report offers the following recommendations based on observed good practice. Governments should establish expert-led bodies to forecast infrastructure requirements and recommend projects on the basis of need, collect reliable data on the service potential of existing infrastructure and on the performance of past projects, and disaggregate expenditure on infrastructure to report both maintenance and new project spend.

A5 The BRI creates possible solutions to Africa's continental development agenda 2063, and promotes The China-Africa Cooperation, which started in October 2000, with the aim of strengthening cooperation between China and African countries. Taking transport as a key example, the BRI is highly strategic because transport networks in a country are like blood vessels in a human body. If the blood vessels are blocked, the whole body is paralyzed.