Chongqing- It is expected to form an economical, efficient, convenient, and green New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) in western China by 2025, according to an implementation plan of the 14^th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for promoting high-quality construction of the ILSTC released by the National Development and Reform Commission on Spet. 2nd.

Located in the interior of western China, connected to the Silk Road Economic Belt in the North and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in the South, and the Yangtze River Economic Belt in concert, ILSTC is a trade and logistics passage jointly built by Singapore and provincial-level regions of western China.

It has an important strategic position in the pattern of coordinated regional development, where Chongqing is the center of operation for the corridor.

A key to China Western Development

Over the past two years, ILSTC has formed a "13 +1" pattern of joint construction, including 12 provincial-level regions of western China, the southern island province Hainan, and Zhanjiang city in the Guangdong Province.

Goods are transported via various modes, including railways, highways, and water routes to the Beibu Gulf in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region before being shipped to other parts of the world along the sea routes. The corridor offers a faster alternative for western Chinese provinces and autonomous regions other than transporting goods via the east coast.

In 2020, the western region to the Beibu Gulf Tu-Ding trains reached 9. Until the first half of this year, the Sea-rail Transportation cross-border trains from China to Vietnam were opened 2705 and 886 respectively, increasing 112% and 51.2%.

This plays a crucial role in the new pattern of China Western Development and high-quality development of the regional economy.

The roads to the East, Central, and West

The Plan pointed out that the routes in the east, central and west will be strengthened continuously. The port and logistics hub will be operated more effectively to stimulate the development of the economy and industry.  

Eastern line

With the improvement of the eastern line, the Plan will work on the perfection of the eastward route from Chongqing through Huaihua, Liuzhou, to the sea mouth of the Beibu Gulf.

At the same time, the construction of the high-speed rail from Chongqing to Qianjiang also serves as the main task, which is expected to ease the transportation burden of the existing roads.

Central line

As for the central line, it plans to create large capacity access through accelerating the transport capacity of the central road from Chongqing through Guiyang and Nanning to the sea mouth of Beibu Gulf (Beibu Gulf Port, Yangpu Port).

Among them, the high-speed rail from Guiyang to Nanning and the east loop of Chongqing railway junction will be completed, and the high-speed rail from Chongqing to Guiyang will be planned. 

Western line

The Plan mentioned that the western line would optimize the westward route from Chengdu through Luzhou (Yibing) and Baise to the sea mouth of Beibu Gulf. Also, the railway from Huangtong to Baise will start construction, striving to open up the western railway in 2025.

Connectivity

In addition to strengthening the construction of the three access roads in the east and west, the Plan also makes requirements for the connectivity between inside and outside.

On the one hand, the Plan tends to prolong the northern line and connect the eastern line, strengthening the link between the east-central access with the mainline railway of Lanzhou to Chongqing, Liuzhou to Guangzhou, Xi’an to Ankang, and Xiangyang to Chongqing.

On the other hand, it is necessary to interconnect with neighboring countries by constructing the China-Laos Railway and promoting the port railroad construction to connect Pingxiang, Dongxing, Longbang Mohan, and Ruili.

A modern international gateway port

Supported by the strong main access, it is also important to enhance the hub functions of the major provincial and municipal nodes, especially on transportation and logistics.

It is shown by the Plan that a modern international gateway port will be created in two major seaports, including Beibu Gulf in Guangxi Province and Yangpu in Hainan Province.

Yanghe Port will concentrate on improving international transit business functions, which will significantly improve the integration of public wharf resources and international logistics and cold chain logistics facilities in Yangpu.

(Du Min, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)