Belt and Road initiative boosts connectivity in the Eurasian

China has made huge progress on boosting connectivity in the Eurasian area. That's according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

"The Commerce Ministry has signed deals with 8 countries to push forward the belt and road project. We also signed a joint declaration with Eurasian Economic Commission," said Shen Danyang, Ministry of Commerce spokesman.

”We set up a cooperative council with Russia's far east development department. We have finished the construction of several high quality railways, cross-border logistics facilities and energy infrastructure. Industrial parks are also built. These accomplishments kicked off a new year of success.“

Shen also says China is talking free trade with Georgia and also pushing the Shanghai Cooperation organization to create trade convenience mechanism.

China is also working with Eurasian Economic Union to build up free trade areas. China also signed currency swap deals with 7 Eurasian countries, worth 210 billion yuan.

China's central bank, the PBOC, has swapped 10 billion Rubles with Russia's central bank since October 2015 for trade settlements. The 7 countries have all become founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.