Chongqing's Xinsheng Port, the first 10,000-metric-ton port in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, began operations on Wednesday.

The port, located between the Xiangshuixi and Xiushuixi rivers on the northern bank of the Yangtze in Chongqing's Zhongxian county, is 220 kilometers from the municipality's downtown waterway and 437 kilometers from the Yichang waterway in Hubei province.

With a total investment of 5 billion yuan ($774.6 million), the entire project covers an area of 3.2 square kilometers and occupies 2,220 meters of coastline. It has 14 berths. The annual throughput is 25 million tons.

"We will take advantage of Chongqing Xinsheng Port and the existing highway networks to attract cargo from southern Sichuan province, southern Gansu province, southern Shaanxi province, and parts of Chongqing," said Huang Zuying, head of Zhongxian county. "It will play an active role in serving the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle."

Huang said the newly built port could play an important role as a transport hub in the upper reaches of the Yangtze and establishes a big platform in developing the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle.

Located in the upper Yangtze region, Chongqing boasts key geographic advantages as a strategic pivot point in the country's development program for its western regions and is a connecting point for the BRI and the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

An important driver of high-quality development in western China, the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, became the fourth pillar region, following the Yangtze River Delta region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, in January last year.

The first five berths of the port — one having an annual throughput of 100,000 cars and four handling containers and bulk cargo — have been checked and accepted. Their total designed annual throughput is 7.2 million metric tons.

(Source: China Daily)