On May 23, Chongqing-based members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) submitted the Proposal on Strengthening Coordination of New Western Land-Sea Corridor Construction to Move Toward a New Pattern of the Large-scale Development of the Western Regions. The joint proposal proposes to provide greater support to the opening of inland ports and officially open Chongqing and Chengdu railway ports. It also proposes to open "green channels" for major infrastructure projects along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) in the western regions, giving priority to the initiation, approval, and construction of these projects.

At present, relevant departments of China have strengthened their guidance and provided full support following their respective duties. ASEAN countries follow the progress closely and actively interact with these departments. The 13 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities along ILSTC and Zhanjiang City take prompt actions to strengthen cooperation. The CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and the People's Government of Chongqing attach great importance to the progress and make an overall plan, with proactive and practical actions implemented. The top-level design of ILSTC has been completed. Most provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities along the corridor have developed implementation plans. They have specified the detailed ideas, goals, tasks, measures, and policy support for the high-quality construction of ILSTC. They have basically formed a framework of the inter-ministerial coordination mechanism at the central level and the inter-provincial consultation mechanism at the local level and have expedited the construction and integration of main channels, operation and organization centers, and supporting logistics facilities.

Western China consists of 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. They are Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province, Shaanxi Province, Yunnan Province, Guizhou Province, Tibet Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

On October 13, 2019, delegates from 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in western China, Hainan Province, and Zhanjiang City in Guangdong Province gathered in Chongqing and jointly signed the Framework Agreement on the Cooperation and Co-construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor. The signing of this agreement marked the expansion of the "circle of friends" of ILSTC to "13" provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities plus "1" city. It also signifies that there will be greater opportunities in the cooperation and co-construction of the corridor.

Before the National People's Congress (NPC) and CPPCC sessions this year, the CPPCC Chongqing Municipal Committee sent letters to other western provinces and autonomous regions and Hainan Province. The joint proposal was vigorously supported and responded by these brother provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. They unanimously assented to propose this joint proposal.

Open Chengdu-Chongqing Railway Port

The joint proposal puts forward suggestions on four aspects:

First, it proposes to improve infrastructure and enhance the capacity of ILSTC as a hub. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) should take the lead to incorporate the construction of Chongqing-Guiyang High-Speed Railway and Fuling-Liuzhou Railway into China's "14th Five-Year Plan" and promote the start of their preliminary work as early as possible. NDRC should also take a step ahead to work jointly with the Ministry of Transport (MOT) to strengthen support for the construction of a national logistics hub in Chongqing, and include land-port-type, airport-type and production-service-type national logistics hubs in Chongqing into the 2020 list of national logistics hubs.

Second, it proposes to strengthen policy support and increase support in investment, financing, and railway rate. NDRC should take the lead to increase the support for the construction of ILSTC through investment from the central government budget, special central funds, and special local government bonds. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) should stand out to organize China Investment Corporation (CIC), the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM), China Development Bank (CDB) and other institutions to jointly fund the establishment of a New International Land-Sea Corridor Investment Fund of Funds and increase support for infrastructure construction and industrial development along the corridor.

Third, it proposes to raise the level and expand channels of opening up to embrace more international cooperation. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) should work to strengthen the top-level design of international cooperation for ILSTC, establish a cooperation mechanism with ASEAN countries, and support inland areas to participate in the construction of China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC), Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC) and other southbound international economic cooperation corridors. In this way, they can help expand international economic and trade cooperation.

Fourth, it proposes to strengthen overall planning to form a working mechanism with coordination by the Central Government and cooperative efforts among local regions. NDRC should take the lead to enhance policy guidance and promote the smooth development of major cross-regional projects and events. NDRC should also work to improve the efficiency of coordinating and solving major cross-regional issues and the level of regional cooperation; promote inter-provincial

consultation and interaction, and hold regular joint meetings among provinces; explore the feasibility of cooperating in handling official business in Chongqing with relevant provinces and autonomous regions participating in co-construction.