Online Silk Road

by+Li+Zhuoxi

The term “Online Silk Road” refers to the multi-faceted， multi-layered economic information belt， based on the internet+， that links countries along the Belt and Road to enhance network connection and information flow. The establishment of such a channel can shrink the digital divide between countries， regions and groups， provide better access to more data and aid implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Statistics show that by the end of 2014， the number of global internet users reached 3 billion， half of the worlds population， with developed countries at the core. When the other half of the worlds population gets connected， 90 percent of those new users will hail from emerging economies and developing countries， many of which are along the Belt and Road.

In Vision and Actions on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road， the Chinese government proposed that countries along the Belt and Road intensify streamlining trade， innovate trade modes and explore new commercial operations such as cross-border e-commerce to tighten ties between Asian and European countries in new ways.

The Belt and Road Initiative is strongly flavored by both temporal and spatial characteristics. Not only can the Online Silk Road break through the limitations of national boundaries and make traditional trade international and borderless， it will also drastically change global economic and trade patterns and increase the profundity of the Belt and Road Initiative， which can boost traditional trade over land and sea by providing better networks， infrastructure， distribution channels， customs clearance and international payments， creating new space for cooperation in cross-border e-commerce.

Chinas recent experience in developing and establishing ecommerce can serve as an example for countries along the Belt and Road. In some developing countries， the digital divide is narrower than that of industrialization. Technical solutions and business models will soon be adopted in these countries， which will tremendously accelerate the arrival of common prosperity and progress. The Belt and Road Initiative and the internet+ will inspire brand-new cooperation patterns for international development that ultimately lead to win-win cooperation in developing countries. On April 21， Ali Research Institute and DT Finance jointly released the Report on the Big Data of the Online Silk Road， the first of its kind to analyze the Online Silk Road through its economic data since the Belt and Road Initiative was first announced. As expected， countries along the Belt and Road top the list of those most active in cross-border e-commerce with China， including Russia， Israel， Thailand， Ukraine， Poland and the Czech Republic.