Chongqing - Seizing great opportunities in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and the New International Land-sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), Wanzhou District, Northeast of Chongqing Municipality, will go all out to build a new pioneer of open economy in western China.
Located at the heart of the Three Gorges reservoir area, Wanzhou established the customs and the port in 1917, making it one of the earliest inland ports for foreign trade in China.
The press conference about Chongqing Wanzhou's new highland of open economy in the western inland. (Photo/ Chen Zhan)
"Openness has always been the strength of Wanzhou," said Nie Hongyan, Mayor of Wanzhou District. The district will focus on the national comprehensive transportation hub, regional resource gathering place, and industry cultivation for the opening up.
Saving 15 days compared with the traditional channel
As Wanzhou has always been the regional material distribution center, the district will improve its logistics system and build the production services national logistics hub, relying on the comprehensive transportation system of railway, highway, waterway, and airway.
The upper Yangtze River shipping sub-center is another essential construction point. Nie said Wanzhou Port is one of the few deep-water ports in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River that can navigate 10,000-ton ships all year round, while Wanzhou Xintian Port has been included in the pilot project of building a strong transportation country.
Now, Wanzhou is speeding up the construction of the second phase of Xintian Port, striving to achieve an annual cargo handling capacity of 70 million tons by the end of the 14th Five-year Plan period (2021-2025).
Also, Wanzhou Xintian Port is the only port area in the city with direct railroad access to the port front. "We have opened and operated the ILSTC rail-water-sea multimodal transport liner, and cold chain line for Southeast Asia highway-railway combined transport, realizing the efficient connection between Yangtze River Golden Waterway and ILSTC," said Nie.
By then, goods from Wanzhou and its surrounding areas can quickly reach Singapore and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) via ILSTC, saving about 15 days compared with the traditional eastward shipping channel.
In the Wanzhou section of the Yangtze River, the golden waterway boats come and go. (Photo/ Wanzhou District)
To reach 15 billion yuan in import and export volume
Wanzhou is the only district in northeast Chongqing with a national economic and technological development zone and a comprehensive bonded zone, as well as "dual ports" for aviation and water transportation.
Enhancing the level of openness and attracting more people, logistics, capital, and information flow to gather in Wanzhou involves expanding the opening function of the Wanzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone.
In addition, Wanzhou will efficiently operate its comprehensive bonded zone and develop export-oriented economic sectors such as bonded processing, bonded logistics, service trade, and cross-border e-commerce.
By 2025, the cumulative use of foreign capital will reach 50 million U.S. dollars, and the import and export volume will reach 15 billion yuan (about 2.15 billion U.S. dollars).
The Wanzhou section of the Yangtze River enjoys access to rail-water multimodal transport. (Photo/ Wanzhou District)