As the center of the Three Gorges Reservoir region town cluster in northeast Chongqing, how will Wanzhou District, a city on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, contribute to building Chongqing into a hub of opening-up inland?
Nie Hongyan, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of China Wanzhou District Committee and District Mayor, said that upgrading the national comprehensive transportation and logistics hub involves leading and driving the opening-up of northeast parts of Chongqing and Sichuan, and integrating into the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
Nie added it is necessary to operate the Wanzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, open the Wanzhou Airport and Xintian Port, and expand the opening-up functions of the national-level Wanzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone and the municipal-level East Chongqing New Area.
Through cultivating and strengthening the hub, airport, harbor, and port economy, Wanzhou can better help the surrounding areas integrate into the national circulation landscape.
A designed annual throughput capacity of 35 million tons
The Wanzhou Xintian Port is one of the important supporters of the Wanzhou-Dazhou-Kaizhou Demonstration Zone of Sichuan-Chongqing Coordinated Development to build a smart logistics port in the east of Sichuan and Chongqing.
It serves as a key project for Sichuan and Chongqing to integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, with advantageous water and multimodal transport conditions, transport timeliness, as well as radiation and aggregation effects.
"The Wanzhou Xintian Port Project includes 10 5,000-ton multi-purpose berths, eight bulk cargo berths, and one large cargo berth, with a designed annual throughput capacity of 35 million tons," said Zhao Mingyang, Director of the Port Operations Section of the Wanzhou District Roads and Traffic Authority.
The project has been implemented in three phases. The first phase was completed in December 2020, including five 5,000-ton multi-purpose berths; While the second phase project has started construction and is expected to be completed and put into operation in July 2024.
Accelerating the construction of logistics channels and promoting the construction of the second phase of Xintian Port. (Photo / Ran Mengjun)
Wanzhou Xintian Port is also speeding up the construction of a multimodal transport hub. The rear of the port area is directly connected to Wanzhou-Zhongxian Expressway, Wanzhou-Lichuan Expressway, and other expressways. The special railway line for the port under construction is linked with Dazhou-Wanzhou Railway and Yichang-Wanzhou Railway.
The most convenient waterway for the export of materials
In 2022, more than 30 port, shipping, and logistics enterprises in Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu signed a strategic cooperation agreement on multimodal transport at Wanzhou Xintian Port.
According to the agreement, all parties will collaborate in an all-around and in-depth way in information exchange, business assistance, management promotion, and other aspects, with Wanzhou Xintian Port as the core and the golden waterway of the Yangtze River as the channel.
Together, they will build a logistics network and offer water-road-rail multimodal transport and comprehensive logistics services.
Xintian Port will become the most convenient waterway for exporting materials from Sichuan, Shanxi, Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, and other places through the Yangtze River.
In addition, Wanzhou will further highlight the engine role of high-quality development of the regional economy by constructing an important modern manufacturing base in Sichuan and Chongqing, a modern service industry cluster in northeast Sichuan and northeast Chongqing, regional consumption center cities, and a national comprehensive demonstration area of modern agriculture.