Fostering Sustainable Development through Chinese Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones along the Belt & Road

Since the late 1990s, China has been establishing economic zones overseas to share its industrialisation experience and facilitate economic and trade cooperation with other countries. Today these Chinese Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones (COCZs) serve as key platforms for promoting the Belt and Road Initiative’s priorities on investment and trade cooperation. At the same time the COCZs along the Belt and Road has many potential synergies with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. This report reviews the contributions of COCZs to sustainable development across Belt and Road countries and provides guidelines for COCZs on how to further improve their efforts towards fostering inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and the achievement of the SDGs. Findings of the report are based on a global survey of COCZs conducted by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC) under Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of China from December 2018 to February 2019.