10 amazing Belt and Road Initiative projects (11)

International Free Trade Zone

Djibouti International Free Trade Zone, Djibouti

A view of the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone during the zone's inauguration ceremony in Djibouti on Dec 9, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

The China-funded Djibouti International Free Trade Zone, which started construction in January 2017, opened on July 5, 2018.

Covering an area of 48.2 sq km, the zone is operated by a joint venture with investment by Chinese enterprises, including China Merchants Holdings and Dalian Port Corp Ltd, as well as the Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority.

More than 20 enterprises from the commerce, logistic, processing sectors have signed letters of intent to register with the FTZ, as infrastructure in the first phase of the FTZ, which covers an area of 6 sq km, has been basically completed.

The FTZ is expected to become a crucial junction linking other African countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and make Djibouti, the small northeast African country, a marine logistics hub linking Africa, Asia and Europe.

Wang Zhuoqiong, Liu Kun, Zhou Lihua, Jiang Xueqing, Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily contributed to this story.