HANOI Under Armour Scorpio Australia , May 20 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have shown interest in the Belt and Road Initiative, describing it as positive.
"We were very interested in hearing about the initiative with some briefings by Chinese officials last week," Alan Bollard, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the 23rd APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT23) Meeting here on Saturday.
"It is a very big project Under Armour Phenom Proto Australia , which is different from a trade agreement so we see it as a whole series of infrastructure projects and economic connectivity. The economic connectivity part is much in line with the APEC's connectivity blueprint. It's interesting to see what it can produce," said Bollard.
Sharing the same view, Denis Hew, director of the APEC Policy Support Unit, said to Xinhua "I see 'Belt and Road' as a chance of improving connectivity. The initiative shares many common interests with APEC as APEC adopted a blueprint a few years ago and the implementation is still ongoing."
Noting that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also has a master plan on connectivity Under Armour Speedform Phenom Australia , Hew said the Asia-Pacific region "has a big infrastructure gap, like it needs some 800 to 900 billion U.S. dollars in infrastructure development every year."
Hew concluded that "Any initiative like 'Belt and Road' that helps support the regional connectivity is a positive initiative."
Regarding the MRT23, Bollard said amid rising doubts on globalization and free trade, "the meeting has been continuing to look at a wide range of measures to realize the goal on sustainable and inclusive growth that leaders have reached in Lima last year."
The official seemed to be quite optimistic about the prospects of global growth as "Actually, we are seeing stronger growth in the last few months in the economy and trade. We know that we have to look for some structural reforms for the future."
As more of the growth is not contributed from the traditional industries but it is much more from services Under Armour Speedform Gemini Australia , Bollard said APEC members "have much interest in electronic economy so we are looking for some new generation of the growth."
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Criticized and even sued by luxury brand Gucci and others for facilitating the counterfeit goods trade, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has been quietly piloting a scheme to try to curb fakes at source.
In the coastal city of Putian, in Fujian province, Alibaba is working with 17 shoe manufacturers to cultivate home-grown brands online Under Armour Speedform Apollo Twist Australia , revitalize a flagging industry and offer would-be counterfeiters an alternative source of livelihood.
Critics say the scheme is misguided and Alibaba should instead focus on scrubbing its online marketplaces of widespread listings of fakes.
But the "Made in China" plan speaks to what proponents say is one of the reasons why there's been only limited progress in the battle against fake goods in China: a lack of attractive alternatives for those making and hawking goods that infringe on others' intellectual property rights.
"You can crack down forever and never see an end to it," said Song Zonghu, who once peddled counterfeit name-brand sneakers and now runs Shuangwei Sporting Goods Co Ltd, one of the firms in the Alibaba program. "Creating new opportunities while cracking down is the way to go. Everybody has to eat."
Ni Liang, Alibaba's senior director of Internet security Under Armour Speedform StudioLux Australia , says the scheme is a key anti-counterfeit initiative this year. The group plans to expand it to household electronics, toys, bags and other industries, hoping that by building local brands, small manufacturers will turn away from fakes and serve a legitimate sector.
LOGISTICS HUB
Putian is the epicenter of China's high-quality fake sneaker business Under Armour Micro G Torch Australia , a byproduct of a legitimate footwear industry that employs a tenth of the city's 3 million people. Copies of Nike, Adidas, New Balance and other brand-name shoes made here are hard to distinguish from the real deal, but sell for a fraction of the price.
The municipal government has cracked down on fakes, arresting 156 people and confiscating about 2 million pairs of counterfeit footwear since 2014 Under Armour Micro G Anatomix Spawn II Australia , said Wu Haiduan, director of the Putian e-commerce office. He declined to give an estimate of the overall size of the industry, but a grid of Putian's sleepy daytime streets near government offices comes alive at night, offering hints as to the scale of the issue.