CRI听力:Online Silk Road to link China, Arab States

As part of the ongoing four-day China-Arab States Expo in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, delegates have taken part in an Online Silk Road Conference, aimed at exploring the ways countries involved in the Belt and Road initiative can use technology to further their cooperation.

At the Online Silk Road Conference held in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Wednesday, more than 300 representatives from over ten countries and regions, such as China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, gathered together to discuss how new technologies could boost the development of the countries along the Silk Road.

Jiang Zhigang, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Ningxia Committee, says with the rapid development of the Internet and digital economy, the Online Silk Road has become a significant platform for China's Belt and Road Initiative.

"Internet economy is like an enriched mine, so we must seize the opportunity of Internet development. The fast and efficient circulation of business, funds and information flows will promise greater wealth and benefits to countries along the Belt and Road Initiative."

As an important base of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Ningxia has already cooperated with Arab States in technology infrastructure, cross-border e-commerce, smart cities and in many other areas.

Juma Mohammed Alkait, Assistant Undersecretary of the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy, says technology is one of the core industries of his country's national innovation strategy, so the cooperation between China and the UAE in this field is getting increasingly close.

"The United Arab Emirates has attracted quite a lot of world-class Internet companies to invest in the country's e-commerce industry. China's Alibaba Group is one of them."

Alibaba Cloud Computer Service CEO, Hu Xiaoming, says the Belt and Road Initiative offers great opportunities for Chinese enterprises to step onto international markets and be involved in economic globalization.

"In addition to our investments in European countries and the United States, we will also seize the innovation opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative to bring our cloud computing service, big data service and AI service to countries and regions along the routes."

Alibaba Cloud's services such as elastic computing, database and load balancing have boosted the development of JollyChic, the largest e-commerce company in Saudi Arabia.

The Online Silk Road Conference is one of a series of conferences and forums held during the China-Arab States Expo, which will last for four days from September 6 to 9.