Chongqing- As the first 10,000-metric-ton port in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Xinsheng Port has attracted more than 5 billion yuan (about 790 million U.S. dollars) of foreign investment within half a year of its operation, local authorities said on March 22. 

Located in Zhongxian Country, Chongqing municipality, Chongqing Xinsheng Port was put into operation on September 29, 2021.

Xinsheng Port 

Located between the Xiangshuixi and Xiushuixi rivers on the northern bank of the Yangtze River in Chongqing's Zhongxian county, the port has a total investment of 5 billion yuan. 

According to local authorities, the port adopted a shoreline length of 2,220 meters, fourteen proposed 5,000-ton-level berths, and a design of 25-million-ton annual throughput.

As a transit hub in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Xinsheng Port can dock large-tonnage ships of more than 5,000 tons all year round and even harbor 10,000-ton ships during the dry season along the Yangtze River.

Meanwhile, Xinsheng Port will enable linking surrounding areas to form a port-to-sea shortcut as the upper reaches of the Yangtze River cover Chongqing and the provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan.

"As the first 10,000-metric-ton port in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it will provide a more convenient channel for goods from eastern Sichuan, southern Gansu and Shaanxi, and parts of Chongqing to reach the waterway and the sea," said the director of the municipal port and maritime affairs center.

Xinsheng Port Logistics Industrial Park 

From Zhongxian Country, it will be based in Xinsheng Port to promote the construction of its logistics industrial park.

Xinsheng Port logistics industrial park is one of the 12 municipal nodal logistics parks. Through the development of modern warehousing, special lines of the logistics market, packaging, and processing, the integration of port-logistics-industry has been accelerated, and a nodal comprehensive logistics park in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area has been realized.

With the first five berths of the first phase of the Xinsheng Port opening up, the area of Xinsheng Port in the New Harbor City in Zhongxian County is becoming a potential place for the investment of foreign enterprises.

Many projects have moved in and started construction, attracting foreign investment of more than 5 billion yuan, like a no-waste city project of northeast Chongqing renewable resources distribution and trading center, agricultural food safety project of Zhongxian County, etc. 

Taking Jinshahe Noodle Project as an example, Hebei Jinshahe Noodle Group Co., Ltd. invested 1.5 billion yuan in the annual processing of one million tons of wheat in New Harbor City. Based in Xinsheng Port, it covers the wheat production areas and product markets in Chongqing and surrounding provinces and cities.

Up to now, Jinshahe Noodle has completed the investment of 100 million yuan.

Another example could be the northeast Chongqing agricultural and sideline products and the imported meat cold chain processing distribution center projects with a total investment of 380 million yuan. 

A person in charge believes that the Xinsheng Port has a leading role in bringing foreign investment and developing the local port economy. 

As the project is put into production, it can employ more than 500 people. And it is going to bring import 50,000 tons of meat, fruits and other goods every year, which is expected to achieve an annual output value of 500 million yuan.

Xinsheng Port has been an important engine of Zhongxian County's opening to the outside world and a new economic growth point, said an official of Zhongxian County. 

He added that it would play an active role in serving the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. 

(Cao Kezhi, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)