Chongqing- "It only takes four hours to go back to Zhengzhou (capital of Henan) by high-speed railway, which is great," said Peng Yongli, a Henan native brought to the southwestern city of Chongqing for business.

Investment promotion

Knowing that the Zhengzhou-Chongqing high-speed railway was fully operational on June 20, Peng believes that the high-speed railway will shorten the space-time distance between the two places, encouraging more Henan people to invest in Chongqing.

Meanwhile, Kong Defeng, a tea merchant from Henan, started his business and settled in Chongqing 25 years ago. "In the future, privately ordered Xinyang Maojian Tea, also known as Yu Maofeng, will be taken on the high-speed railway and delivered from ecological tea gardens and hills to the regular customers of teahouses in Chongqing within 24 hours," said Kong proudly.

The convenience of the high-speed railway will also prompt more Chongqing natives who do business in Henan to return to their hometown.

Liu Xilin, a native of the Qijiang District who sells clothing in Henan, has also invested tens of millions of yuan to start a river treatment project and build a harmless treatment plant for industrial hazardous wastes in recent years, helping the development of his hometown. "It takes time to investigate projects," said Liu. "For businesses, time is money."

After the Zheng-Chongqing high-speed railway's operation, he will use the high-speed railway to return to Chongqing to investigate and invest more.

Wang Kaifan, secretary-general of the Sichuan and Chongqing Chamber of Commerce in Henan, introduced that in recent years, Chongqing entrepreneurs in Henan have invested in more than ten projects in the fields of tourism, jewelry, ecological agriculture, etc. in Chongqing. "It is expected that this high-speed railway will attract more investment from Henan and Hubei provinces for Chongqing," said Wang.

Cost reduction

In addition to Henan, this high-speed railway also connects Hubei, which will inevitably increase economic and trade exchanges between Hubei and Chongqing.

"I've been looking forward to the opening of the Zhengzhou-Chongqing high-speed railway," said Chen Qun, founder of Chongqing Yueneng Group, who comes from Xiangyang, Hubei.

Chen's Yueneng Group was founded in 2007. With a branch in Hubei, he often commutes between the two places. The opening of the high-speed rail will reduce the Group's communication, transaction, and management costs.

He said that he would seize the opportunity to integrate the industrial chain resources of Hubei, Chongqing, and Henan and expand the business.

Industry interaction

The Zhengzhou-Chongqing high-speed railway will also enhance economic and trade cooperation and industrial interaction between North and Central China and Chongqing.

Take the famous Chongqing noodles, Xiao Mian, as an example. Henan has high-quality wheat, and Chongqing's Yunyang County is well-known for its noodle-making skills. The combination of the two has made the spicy and delicious Chongqing Xiao Mian.

According to Liu Keyang, a Yunyang native who is engaged in noodle processing in Zhengzhou, more than 1,100 Yunyang merchants are engaged in this industry in Zhengzhou. After the opening of the high-speed railway, more Yunyang villagers will "go out" and carry forward Chongqing Xiao Mian.

(Zhu Qinzhou, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)