Bridging Mountains and Seas: Accelerated Construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor
Source: People's Daily
Photo 1: Recently, the container function area of the 4.5 million-ton freight yard at Qianjiang Station in Chongqing on the Yu-Huai Railway was put into operation, marking the departure of the first train on the new Western Land-Sea Corridor.
Photo 2: A cargo ship leaves the automated container loading and unloading terminal at Qinzhou Port in Guangxi.
Connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt in the north and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in the south, while synchronously linking with the Yangtze River Economic Belt, an international logistics corridor traversing China's western regions is rapidly extending. This is the Western Land-Sea Corridor, a symbolic project of the Belt and Road Initiative. Facilitating east-west mutual support and integrating land and sea both domestically and internationally, this corridor is not merely a logistics channel but a vibrant economic corridor.
Recently, the Western Land-Sea Corridor released its operational data for 2023: Container transportation by rail-sea intermodal trains, cross-border road transportation (from Chongqing and Sichuan), and international rail transportation (from Chongqing, Guangxi, and Sichuan) amounted to 615,200 TEUs, a 7% increase year-over-year, with the value of goods transported reaching 64.326 billion yuan, up 16% year-over-year.
Guided by "full-chain, large-platform, new formats," the multi-modal transportation of the Western Land-Sea Corridor is thriving. The hub-based logistics network is being rapidly established, and the "logistics+trade+industry" operation model continues to innovate. This promotes a new pattern of regional collaborative development, further highlighting the strategic corridor's role in promoting deep economic integration and enhancing the comprehensive functionality of this international megacorridor.
Hub Driving: Significant Improvement in Transport Quality and Efficiency
At the railway specialized line at Guoyuan Port in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, a rail-sea intermodal train loaded with general machinery and chemical products whistles and slowly departs, reaching the ASEAN region via Qinzhou Port in Guangxi two days later.
"Regular operation of the Guoyuan Port train on the Western Land-Sea Corridor has significantly enhanced our market reach," says Xie Songyu, manager of the production command center at Chongqing Guoyuan Port Terminal Co., Ltd.
Guoyuan Port, the largest container hub and bulk cargo distribution center in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, has become an essential hub of the Western Land-Sea Corridor. Here, it connects with the China-Europe Railway Express (via Chengdu and Chongqing) and the Golden Waterway of the Yangtze River.
Recognizing the strategic location of Guoyuan Port, the Western Land-Sea Corridor Operating Company has established a joint transport development company here to further increase the distribution of western goods.
"Guoyuan Port has launched over ten water and rail-water intermodal transport routes, such as Shanghai-Guoyuan-Nanchong, Guoyuan-Panzhihua, Guoyuan-Xichang, Guoyuan-Xi'an, serving as a transit port for foreign trade goods from surrounding areas, thereby further enhancing its radiation and driving capability," says Niu Xiandan, general manager of Chongqing Guoyuan Port International Logistics Hub Construction Development Co., Ltd.
Guoyuan Port exemplifies the rapid advancement of hub construction along the Western Land-Sea Corridor. By December 2023, 42 "six-type" national logistics hubs had been established along the corridor, with significant logistics hubs in cities such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Guiyang, and Zunyi being further developed. In 2023 alone, 11 new national logistics hubs were added.
"In 2023, rail-sea intermodal trains transported 584,000 TEUs, with the value of goods reaching 49.177 billion yuan, marking a 7% and 3% increase, respectively," says Liu Wei, director of the logistics and operation organization center of the Western Land-Sea Corridor. "To date, Chongqing, Sichuan, and Yunnan have achieved 'bi-directional daily runs' to the Beibu Gulf Port, and within Guangxi, the journey to the Beibu Gulf Port has achieved 'daily runs.' The number of scheduled trains on the corridor has increased to 16, with the travel time for trains from the Beibu Gulf Port to the Sichuan and Chongqing region decreasing by 33%."
Multi-modal Collaboration Accelerates Development of Cross-border Highway Bus Services
In the performance report of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor for the year 2023, the accelerated development of cross-border highway bus services stands out significantly.
Launched in April 2016, the Western Land-Sea New Corridor's cross-border highway bus service has seen its annual number of trips increase from 100 to over 4,000 in eight years, expanding its cargo from general machinery to include more categories such as automotive and motorcycle parts, electronic products, raw materials, and daily necessities. Currently, the service links with over 20 border ports, operating 15 routes that not only connect to Southeast Asia but also Central Asia, South Asia, and Europe, forming a comprehensive road-rail and road-sea transport system. This has become an important supply chain logistics channel from the inland western regions of China to the world.
Chongqing and Sichuan have leveraged their operational network and industrial base to achieve new results in cross-border road transport, transporting 11,400 TEUs in 2023, a 35% increase, with the cargo value reaching 10.245 billion yuan, a surge of 198%.
In September 2023, Sichuan launched its first "China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan" TIR international cross-border road transport route. On its inaugural journey, two trucks carrying 42 tons of tea left Yibin, exited China through the Irkeshtam port in Xinjiang, passed through Kyrgyzstan, and arrived in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, in eight days.
"The opening of this road has solved our urgent needs," said Ying Yuhang, Deputy General Manager of Yibin Shuangxing Tea Industry Co., Ltd., one of Sichuan's tea export production bases. The route has enabled timely supply of goods and facilitated further cooperation between businesses.
TIR, or the International Road Transport Convention, is a global customs facilitation system for international cross-border transport, based on a United Nations convention. Using this mode of transport, customs of various countries grant simplified entry and transit procedures to vehicles carrying a TIR carnet, offering expedited clearance.
The company responsible for this tea shipment, Zhengzhou Hongyi Transportation Co., Ltd., mentioned that prior to this route, transporting goods from Yibin to Tashkent would take about 30 days. Compared to rail transport, the TIR mode may be costlier but saves two-thirds of the time, making it highly suitable for high-value, time-sensitive goods such as electronics and cold chain products.
"We have established a dedicated international road transport team and subsidiary companies, successively opening routes to Hong Kong, Macao, ASEAN, Central Asia, Russia, Europe, and the Middle East, achieving regular operations. The goods transported include engineering machinery, new energy vehicles, and cold chain fruits," said a representative from the Sichuan Port Investment Group's International Road Transport Company.
Innovation and service capacity continue to improve
On September 26, 2023, a sea-rail intermodal train carrying 1,050 tons of imported mineral products from South Africa arrived at Chongqing's Yuzui freight station, marking the Western Land-Sea New Corridor's first use of rail container transport for mineral imports.
Traditionally, Chongqing imported mineral products via river-sea transport, which was longer and took more time. "To ensure the security of the energy resource industry supply chain, we have initiated a pilot optimization of the inspection and supervision model for importing mineral products through the Western Land-Sea New Corridor," said Xie Bin, head of Chongqing Customs.
"The import of mineral products from South Africa, through sea-rail intermodal transport to Chongqing, takes only 21 days, compared to the previous 35-40 days by river-sea transport, also effectively solving issues like unstable shipping schedules and transport times during the summer flood season," said Zhang Xi, head of the trade department at Chongqing Zhuoyue Industrial Development Co., Ltd. Through the pilot, the "one-container direct to final destination" transport mode saves over 1,700 yuan per container by eliminating the need for storage, transshipment, and unloading at ports.
With continuous innovation, the Western Land-Sea New Corridor's service capabilities are constantly being enhanced.
Customs clearance has become more efficient, with overall clearance times at Guangxi ports being reduced to 15.16 hours for imports and 0.28 hours for exports, a reduction of 73.2% and 98.01% respectively since 2017. Customs in Chongqing, Kunming, and Manzhouli have strengthened cooperation, reducing the transport time from Moscow through Manzhouli to Thailand's Map Ta Phut station to as little as 15 days, 20 days faster than traditional sea routes.
The application of digital documentation continues to expand. The pilot scope of the "single document" system has been continuously extended, from sea-rail intermodal trains to China-Vietnam and China-Laos cross-border railway services, covering Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, and Laos, with a total of 9,613 bills issued and a cargo value of $555 million. The implementation of the "single container" system has led to the breakthrough of 82,000 TEUs for rail containers under the water and 46,000 TEUs for sea containers on land, saving 1,000 yuan per container.
The construction of information interchange platforms has been accelerated. Chongqing, Guangxi, Xinjiang, and other key nodes of the corridor have shared over 230,000 pieces of customs logistics information, reducing labor costs by more than 50%. This achievement has been facilitated by the interconnectivity with the railway freight system and the sharing of over 800,000 pieces of container and ship dynamic data with the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), extending the dynamic information of the international supply chain from the domestic segment to the international segment.
The capability for fee reduction and optimized services has been significantly enhanced. Guangxi has continuously improved the multi-modal transport "fixed price" service charge model, reaching 150 routes. Hainan has utilized a special policy allowing both domestic and international ships to refuel tax-free oil, achieving direct supply across customs areas and other measures. In 2023, the total volume of bonded oil refueling exceeded 200,000 tons, with a growth rate surpassing 50%.
Empowering Upgrades and Leading Industry Development and Transformation
Standing at the important gateway where the Western Land-Sea New Corridor meets the sea – the Beibu Gulf Port in Guangxi – one can see a bustling scene.
"As of now, Beibu Gulf Port has opened 76 container shipping routes, including 48 for international trade and 28 for domestic trade, covering over 200 ports in more than 100 countries and regions," said Zhou Shaobo, Party Secretary and Chairman of Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group Co., Ltd.
"The Western Land-Sea New Corridor will fully leverage Guangxi's geographical advantages, promoting coordinated opening-up between the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the inland regions of Southwest and Central South China, and enabling Guangxi to participate in international competition and cooperation at a higher level and in broader fields," said a representative from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission.
The Western Land-Sea New Corridor is transitioning from a simple "corridor economy" to a more integrated development model of "logistics + trade + industry".
The corridor continues to extend. At the end of August last year, the Guizhou-Nanning high-speed railway was fully operational, serving as an important part of the corridor's central route. It connects with several high-speed rail lines, linking the regions of Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and the Northwest with the coastal areas of Guangxi and Western Guangdong, forming a new major transportation artery in the Southwest.
Trade scale continues to grow. Industrial parks such as China-Cambodia and China-Malaysia have been accelerated, with positive results from corridor industry cooperation. In 2023, Guangxi's foreign trade reached a total of 693.65 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%. Among this, trade with ASEAN, its largest trading partner, totaled 339.44 billion yuan, up 22.8%, surpassing 300 billion yuan for the first time.
Industry cooperation has deepened. Qinghai has opened a freight corridor to the Southeast Asian market for its salt lake chemical products, achieving large-scale exports of products like soda ash and polyvinyl chloride to Southeast Asia; Xinjiang has built green organic fruit and vegetable industry clusters, taking advantage of the corridor's capacity for goods and services to actively undertake the transfer of industries from the eastern and central regions.
At the end of last year, the "Chang'an" China-Europe train route was launched, carrying 210 tons of Yan'an apples in 10 refrigerated containers to Xi'an, and then onto Vietnam within 8-10 days. The train not only reduced transportation time and ensured the quality of the fruits but also significantly reduced the loss rate of goods.
Currently, the China-Europe Railway Express (Xi'an) has realized the convergence of the east-west Eurasian land-sea trade corridor and the north-south Western Land-Sea New Corridor in Xi'an.
"Effectively connecting the 'Belt and Road' initiative externally and promoting the opening up of the western regions internally, the interconnectivity between the China-Europe Railway Express and the Western Land-Sea New Corridor helps to further promote the construction of a new development pattern featuring domestic circulation as the mainstay and dual circulation promoting each other," said Liu Quan, Associate Researcher at the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences.
