Chongqing - In the transition zone between the ocean and the inland, at the intersection of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Southwest China's Municipality Chongqing has given its blueprint for development.
As a starting point of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) and the logistics and operation organization center, Chongqing is striving to play a leading role in various aspects, such as operation quality, inter-provincial cooperation, and innovation empowerment.
Originally, the corridor was designed for Western China, which has a total area of about 6.8 million square kilometers, accounting for about 70% of the country's total area.
Three hundred eighty million people live here, accounting for about 27% of the country's total population. It borders 13 countries, such as Mongolia, Russia, Nepal, India, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, with a land border of more than 18,000 kilometers, and it faces Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines across the sea.
Since the operation of the ILSTC for five years, all 12 western provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have participated in it. It has also attracted Hainan Province, Zhanjiang City in Guangdong Province, and Huaihua City in Hunan Province. For the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, it accelerates resource agglomeration and regional radiation. In the future, there will be more partners participating in the project.
The gate of China's opening to the world is getting wider and brighter, and the ILSTC has transformed from a "single line" to "a comprehensive network." It has become a link connecting Southeast Asian countries and inland countries in Asia and Europe, which solved the logistics problem in western China and stimulated the potential of opening up the western region.
A new Chongqing with great channels, platforms, and openness is worth looking forward to.