MNI BRIEF: China Should Tighten Links With OBOR Nations: Off'l

China should diversify its investment destinations by strengthening ties with countries under the One Belt One Road initiative, a People's Bank of China official said at the Qvjiang Forum, adding that such a move would help counter unbalanced global development due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

China can transfer some of its lower-value-added and labour-intensive industries to OBOR countries, which can also be investment destinations for its large savings, said Zhou Yu, deputy director of international department of the PBOC, on Saturday. About 40% of China's outbound direct investment has gone to emerging markets, surpassing that of some developed economies, Zhou said.

Emerging markets, including OBOR countries, have been hit hard by the pandemic and greatly pressured by the extreme easing policies by developed economies so the growth gap between them and developed markets is expected to further widen, Zhou said. He also called for a widely accepted international rules framework for trade arrived at through negotiation and compromise and based on free trade agreements.