The 2020 Chongqing Western China International Logistics Industry Expo was held at Chongqing International Convention & Exhibition Center on November 26.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, Chongqing launched more trains for New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC). At present, the trade volume between major western regions and ASEAN is growing at a rate far higher than China's average foreign trade growth level. Among these western regions, Chongqing performed the best.
Chongqing performed the best in the trade volume of cooperation with ASEAN countries.
Li Mu, former Deputy Executive President of China Container Industry Association, said that since the State Council released the Master Plan of Western New ILSTC in August 2019, Chongqing has launched an implementation plan. This move gave rise to a new round of infrastructure capability construction and a networked channel formation on a larger scale.
Yang Donglun, Vice Executive Chairman of the China-Laos Business Cooperation Promotion Committee of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI), held the same perspective. According to him, flights from Chongqing to Laos remained open despite the epidemic.
Meanwhile, the construction of China's currently largest single Belt and Road project, namely the China-Laos Railway, has been sped up to ensure that the target of opening in December next year can be reached. Once the railway is completed and opened to use, passengers can arrive in Vientiane, Laos, from Chongqing overnight.
In addition, the first expressway in Laos, Vientiane–Vang Vieng Expressway, is expected to open to traffic by the end of this year. The construction and the expressway linking Laos with Yunnan have been officially approved and will soon get started.
When the relevant infrastructure is completed, the China-Laos international logistics' efficiency will be greatly improved, and the cost will be sharply reduced.
According to Yang, Chongqing will become a key link between China and Laos, and even the whole ASEAN. Chongqing's role as a logistics hub, a part of the economic corridor, and its supply and value chains' functions will also be enhanced.
There are currently about 32 cooperation projects by Chongqing enterprises in Laos, including investment, project contracting, labor service cooperation, and trade, with the total contract amount exceeding 3 billion yuan.
Under this context, Laos plans to build a demonstration base that integrates logistics, a comprehensive bonded area, and a free trade zone in northern Laos near Yunnan Province. Laos also has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Chongqing's Banan District.
Li believes that Laos, as the bridgehead linking ASEAN with Chongqing, will bring historic changes to ASEAN and Chongqing's logistics landscape with improved infrastructure. "Once the capabilities are more and more utilized, there will be a new surge in demand, and great development can be expected for ILSTC during the 14th Five-year Plan period," Li said.
Han Lingbing, Editor-in-chief of China Land Ports, said Chongqing should build an industrial system featuring the all-round coordination of real economy, scientific and technological innovation, modern finance, and human resources in the construction of ILSTC, which determines the overall competitiveness of the channel economy.
Specifically, more trains to the Yangtze River's upper reaches and the western regions should be added to the rail-water transport system. The container highway should grasp the opportunities brought by the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle.
More importantly, the container highway should expand the shipping market of the tributaries such as the Jialing River, the Jinsha River, and the Wujiang River, to shape a shipping system with the sound coordination of the main tributaries of the Yangtze River.
This will lead to creating an intermodal transportation network with a strong joint operation ability, widespread transportation influence, and an establishment of a commodity trading center in western China.