Another huge boon for Chongqing to build an exemplary inland city of opening up! On December 11, the State Council approved to expand the opening-up of Guoyuan Port of Chongqing Port, with 16 berths covering 2,800 meters of water front.

According to Niu Xiandan, Deputy Director of Chongqing Pilot Free Trade Zone Office in Liangjiang New Area, the expansion of the opening-up of Guoyuan Port will further promote the construction of Liangjiang New Area as an integrated multimodal logistics hub of waterway, railway, and highway in the upper reaches of Yangtze River, as well as stepping up Chongqing’s efforts to build an exemplary inland city of opening up.

This successful opening-up is associated with two factors. One is sufficient supply.

For one thing, Guoyuan Port is adjacent to Yufu Industrial Park, the core area of Liangjiang New Area, where industries involving auto, electronic information, and equipment manufacturers have formed a considerable scale.

For another, a complete multimodal transport system of waterway and railway has been established in Guoyuan Port through the linkage of China Railway Express (Chongqing) and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, making it easier to transfer more goods from western provinces such as Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Qinghai, and Gansu.

The other is the regional advantage. Traversed by the belt expressway, Guoyuan Port is five kilometers away from Yuzui Railway Station of Chongqing-Huaihua Railway, seven kilometers away from Fusheng Railway Station, four kilometers away from Chongqing-Changshou Expressway and 15 kilometers away from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.

Data shows that, from January to November this year, Guoyuan Port realized a cargo throughput of 12.61 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 34%. Its container throughput of rail-water and water-water transport saw an increase of over 40%, respectively.

The opening-up of Guoyuan Port is significant in the following ways. On one hand, it will further boost the foreign trade of Chongqing and Liangjiang New Area. The consequent enhancement and improvement in service and operational capabilities of Guoyuan Port will help to meet the urgent demand of foreign trade of its enterprises and reduce their cost, making them move forward.

On the other, as the only national port-type logistics hub, Guoyuan Port will accelerate the establishment of a port operation area with large throughput, high transshipment efficiency and low intermodal price after the opening-up. That will help the goods in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River to be transferred to Europe and ASEAN countries through water-rail transport, thus promoting organic integration of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Zone.

On a more macro level, this opening-up also facilitates a maturer open port system of Liangjiang New Area and helps to create a new era for opening up driven by the “double bub”–Guoyuan Port and Cuntan Port.

Source: Shangyou News