BEIJING, Jan 23 (INP): Pakistan-China cooperative partnership gets a big boost under the Belt and Road’s initiatives (BRI), as in the case of other countries, officials said here Tuesday. According to People’s Daily Online, the China-proposed BRI is much more than just multi-billion-dollar projects to boost the nation’s development. Chinese constructors overseas are also changing the lives of ordinary people under the grand strategy through smaller projects, from drinking facilities to village roads. The world’s largest power utility company, State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), has completed several leading grid projects across the world, including a 660kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line in Pakistan and a 800kV HVDC transmission project in Brazil. Not only are the above projects a milestone for those nations and even their continent, but the Chinese company is also bringing changes to local residents’ everyday life, noted Yu Naichun, deputy chief engineer and general manager of China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company. It has become a common practice for Chinese companies to build basic infrastructure projects overseas for free during the construction of bigger ones to boost project efficiency and improve people’s livelihood. Meanwhile, it is equally important to bridge the development gap and people’s mindset with the promotion of science and technology, which is where the “Digital Silk Road” is useful, noted Tian Feng, director of Alibaba Cloud Research Center, the cloud service provider of many Chinese companies doing businesses under the Belt and Road Initiative. According to Tian, Alibaba now provides cloud services in 33 regions to thousands of companies across the world, from 15,000 small startups to major industry giants such as Schneider Electrics and Singapore Post. “Basic infrastructure is the foundation for everything, including the digital economy. Thanks to cloud technology – a basic infrastructure in the digital world, one can now explore different markets and boost upgrading in industry and consumption,” Tian said. INP/J/SB