On July 22, the opening ceremony of the 4th Western China International Investment and Trade Fair. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Wei
Chongqing, 23 Jul (Xinhua) -- At the Fourth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (hereinafter referred to as the Western Fair) held in Chongqing, a group of eye-catching "report cards" that "drifted red against the trend" became the focus of attention of domestic and foreign guests -- in the first half of this year, the new land-sea corridor transported 216,000 TEUs of goods, an increase of 30.3% year-on-year, and the destination has been expanded to 319 ports in 107 countries and regions.
The new land-sea corridor is a new international land-sea trade corridor built by the western provinces of China and ASEAN countries, with Chongqing as the operation center and the western provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities as the key nodes, using railways, shipping, highways and other modes of transportation to reach the world in Nantong.
At this year's Western Fair, the results of the latest phase of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor Development Index were officially released. The index report shows that the scale development index, quality development index and competitiveness development index of the new western land-sea corridor are 125, 112.7 and 101.9 respectively, reflecting the three lines of scale, quality and competitiveness of the construction and operation of the new western land-sea corridor in 2021.
The "New Corridor, New Pattern, New Pattern, International Land and Sea Trade Development Report 2017-2022" jointly released by the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce and the Logistics and Operation Organization Center of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor shows that in the past five years, the import and export trade volume between provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities along the route and ASEAN countries has continued to rise, from 58.9 billion US dollars in 2017 to 107.7 billion US dollars in 2021, and the categories of transported goods have developed from more than 50 to more than 640.
On April 7, the Yangtze River-Indochina Peninsula International Intermodal Train departed from Chongqing Guoyuan Port. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Wei
In the past five years since its opening, this new channel has solved the problem of international logistics in western China, allowed western China to "embrace" the world, and also created new opportunities for development for countries and regions along the route.
In the exhibition area of the new land and sea corridor of this year's Western Fair, there are export commodities with a unified "land and sea excellent product" brand, including Ningxia goji berry pulp and dry red wine, Gansu lily, Xinjiang nuts, Guangxi snail powder, Guizhou tea, etc.
Relying on the new land and sea corridors, enterprises in western China can also be more deeply integrated into the global industrial pattern. With the support of the new land-sea corridor, Chongqing Xiaokang Industrial Group invested US$150 million in Indonesia to establish an automobile manufacturing base. After the outbreak of the epidemic, the new land-sea corridor provided a stable and efficient supply chain guarantee.
Zhang Xingyan, general manager of the group's import and export company, calculated an account: "From Chongqing to Jakarta, it takes more than 30 days to transport through traditional river-sea intermodal transport, while the new land-sea channel controls the logistics time within 20 days, improving transportation efficiency and reducing operating costs." ”
While promoting the western region to "embrace" the world, the new land and sea corridors have also opened up new opportunities for development for countries (regions) along the route.
On March 25, 2020, a truck carrying containers waited to depart in the Changshou Economic Development Zone. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Wei
On July 5, the Laos-China Import and Export Commodity Distribution Center was inaugurated in Chongqing, and China and Laos will rely on the new land and sea channels to build a centralized procurement and distribution system, carry out full-chain cooperation in the industry, continue to expand the integration of "transportation and trade", and continuously expand trade exchanges between the two sides in the fields of energy and minerals, agriculture and so on.
"In the past, it took at least 20 days for Laos rice and other agricultural products to be transported to Chongqing, Sichuan and other places." Wu Yang, manager of Minsheng International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd., which has long been engaged in China-Laos trade, said that it takes only 4 days for goods to travel from Laos to Chongqing on the new land-sea corridor china-Laos train.
On this basis, China is relying on the new land-sea corridor, exploring and building an integrated banana supply chain with Cambodia, and promoting the formation of a new land-sea corridor Malaysia Supply Chain Resource Center with Malaysia.
"Connectivity is at the heart of supply chain resilience, and to the south, the new land-sea corridor connects the young and dynamic economies of Southeast Asia, and to the north, connects China's fastest-growing western region, saving interregional cargo transportation time through efficient land-sea corridor connection." At this year's Western Fair, Singapore's Minister of Communications and Information and Second Minister of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Yang Liming, said through a video message.
Yang Liming said that in the face of global uncertainty, the original intention of the new land-sea corridor has not changed, bringing together like-minded partners, giving full play to their respective comparative advantages, helping to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and looking forward to the continuous extension of the network of the new land-sea corridor and encouraging more stakeholders to participate in the construction of the channel.
"The new land-sea corridor injects new momentum into the construction of a new development pattern, creates a new engine for the joint construction of the 'Belt and Road', provides new options for maintaining the chain, stabilizing the chain and promoting upgrading, and provides a new path for promoting sustainable development." Gu Xueming, president of the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said.
Source: Xinhua News Agency