These maps show how far China's freight railways are stretching across Asia

BEIJING — In the past 2 years, China has announced the opening of caller freight bid lines, portion cross-border railways person go a diagnostic successful President Xi Jinping's meetings with determination leaders.

It's each portion of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative, a analyzable web of infrastructure projects connecting China to its trading partners.

Here's a look astatine wherever the obstruction lines are being built crossed the Asian continent.

The projects see high-speed rider trains.

In April, China's nationalist obstruction ticketing app opened online bookings for a 10.5-hour bid thrust from Yunnan state to the superior of Laos. If each goes arsenic planned, that way volition 1 time link to the Thai superior of Bangkok and Phnom Penh, Cambodia's riverside capital.

In the past six months, China besides opened freight bid lines to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, according to authorities media.

Far successful the north, China past twelvemonth opened a railway bridge betwixt the distant state of Heilongjiang and Russia. New obstruction routes to transport ember from Mongolian mines to China are underway, according to authorities media.

Those freight lines are successful summation to China's comparatively older obstruction web done cardinal Asia — connecting Yiwu successful eastbound China to London.

While it's hard to verify however operational each the obstruction lines are, authoritative reports connection a glimpse astatine however China's Belt and Road ambitions are panning out.

CNBC analyzed the reports to make the pursuing schematic diagrams of the railways, built and planned, by region:

China's Belt and Road Initiative was launched successful 2013 astatine the opening of Xi's presidency. The programme is wide seen arsenic Beijing's effort to boost planetary power done the improvement of rail, oversea and different proscription routes moving from Asia to Europe and Africa.

"Splitting Europe from the U.S., astatine slightest to the grade possible, is an important overseas argumentation nonsubjective for China and deeper economical integration fostered by stronger obstruction linkages would help," said Stephen Olson, elder probe chap astatine the Hinrich Foundation.

Similarly, "part of China's information successful constructing obstruction links successful ASEAN is to spot China much astatine the bosom of determination trade," helium said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc.

Olson said that portion obstruction could beryllium "game changing" for a landlocked system specified arsenic Laos, the onus is besides connected the destination state to make logistics and different infrastructure to afloat utilize the caller obstruction lines for trade. 

Beijing says commercialized with Belt and Road countries accounts for astir one-third of China's wide imports and exports. In the archetypal quarter, that commercialized grew by 16.8% from a twelvemonth agone — slower than the 19.4% gait for each of past year, according to authoritative figures.

The existent boost to commercialized from the obstruction lines is hard to gauge, said Francoise Huang, elder economist astatine Allianz Trade. She pointed retired that transporting goods by obstruction is considerably cheaper than air, and faster than by roadworthy and sea.

She said her appraisal of reports indicates the obstruction lines are being utilized much to transport Chinese exports to different countries, alternatively than imports into China.

Since 2013, Belt and Road-related operation contracts person totaled $573 billion, according to estimates released successful January by Christoph Nedopil, founding manager of the Green Finance and Development Center astatine Fudan University successful Shanghai. Including non-financial investments, that fig rises to astir $1 trillion, the study said.

Critics accidental that done the monolithic infrastructure project, China has forced processing nations to instrumentality connected precocious debt portion benefiting Chinese companies, often state-owned entities.

"Analysis of the interaction of the freight lines volition beryllium indivisible from an investigation of the wide interaction of person commercialized relations with China," Olson said.

"For immoderate countries this mightiness enactment retired amended than for others. China's system is acold larger than immoderate azygous system successful ASEAN and that creates leverage that tin sometimes effect successful unbalanced and unsustainable commercialized relationships."

In an yearly study successful March, China's National Development and Reform Commission, the apical economical readying agency, highlighted advancement connected planetary obstruction construction. The committee besides said it was cognizant of risks.

"We developed large overseas projects portion guarding against related risks, helped enterprises defender against and defuse overseas concern risks, and worked faster to physique a broad work level for monitoring, assessment, and aboriginal informing of risks related to overseas projects."

China is acceptable to clasp the 3rd Belt and Road forum astatine an unspecified clip this year. Xi has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend, authorities media said.

— CNBC's Bryn Bache contributed to this report.