By Rui Hu, EDITOR
On July 10, Chongqing and Sichuan jointly signed the "2+16" Series Cooperation Agreement, of which the Framework Agreement on Jointly Constructing the "New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor" under the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity attracted much attention. The co-construction of the ILSTC in the west will benefit both Sichuan and Chongqing, realizing extensive consultation, joint construction, and sharing.
Sichuan's entry into the "Circle of Friends" of ILSTC will significantly help accelerate the rise of Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster, the comprehensive cooperation of Chongqing and Sichuan in fields of infrastructure, transportation integration, industries and commerce & trade, the formation of the city cluster structure with multi-core and a clear division of labor, rational allocation of resources, optimization of spatial distribution, formation of economies of scale, as well as production of incremental benefits of 1+1 > 2, so as to maximize the comprehensive benefits of the City Cluster in the end and by 2030, help Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster make a historic leap from the state-level to world-class.
On July 10, Chongqing and Sichuan jointly signed the Framework Agreement on Jointly Constructing the "New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor" under the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity (Agreement for short). Since then, Sichuan Province has joined the "Circle of Friends" of ILSTC.
According to the Agreement, Sichuan and Chongqing have reached a consensus and agreed to give full play to the pivotal role of Chongqing and Singapore in the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity and the international gateway and hub functions of Chongqing, Chengdu, and Xi'an, and with Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port as the important intersection of ILSTC, the central cities and transportation hubs of relevant western provinces (districts and cities) as important nodes, and the coastal and border ports as channel portals, realize efficient linkage through railway, water, road, aviation and other logistics methods, so as to form the main axis of the land-sea corridor that runs through northwest and southwest China and connects west China with ASEAN countries (regions), expand the branch system and enhance the effect of radiation and agglomeration with the functions of each node, linking up with international channels in central Europe and central Asia, forming a complete loop line of the "BRI" in western China, and building a global connectivity network.
"In other words, Chongqing's position as an operation center in ILSTC will be more clear, " said Han Baochang, Director of China–Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity Administrative Bureau. ILSTC is an excellent platform for extensive consultation, joint construction, and sharing. Through this new corridor, goods from western regions can no longer go east but directly go south to the nearest exit. Starting from the western areas such as Sichuan and Chongqing, the goods will be transported by rail, road, and sea to the south via coastal and border ports such as Guangxi Beibu Gulf and then transferred to Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, saving about 15 days compared with the east-bound traditional routes.
Before that, Chongqing has already signed framework agreements with Guangxi, Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and other western provinces (cities). Currently, this platform has established three-pillar systems, i.e., customs inspection, railway, and finance, which significantly support customs checks, railway operation, infrastructure construction and maintenance, logistics, and finances.
Upon joining in the “circle of friends” of ILSTC, Sichuan Province will positively contribute to the construction of this corridor.
Senior management of the CCI Eurasia Land Bridge Logistics Development Co., Ltd. said that they had already entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Chongqing Three Gorges Tieshui Logistic Co., Ltd, and would build collecting and distribution centers at Dazhou, Sichuan Province and Wanzhou, Chongqing.
He also revealed that Wanzhou has already launched trains for rail-sea combined transport since June this year. Such trains would be accessible in Dazhou soon. If so, it would seamlessly link the river, railway and maritime transportation systems of Sichuan Province with that of Chongqing. It could also tie the “Belt and Road” Initiative with the Yangtze River Economic Zone more closely, then speed up the opening up and development of Sichuan Province, Chongqing, and other western regions.
The Port and Logistics Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government also unveiled that with all the 12 provinces and municipalities in west China integrating into the “circle of friends”, the ILSTC, linked with Sino-European international railway to the west, connecting the Yangtze River to the east, and having access to foreign countries like Singapore through China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor to the south, would combine the “Belt and Road” with the Yangtze River Economic Zone more efficiently. Besides, this strategic corridor with multiple effects would enhance the opening up and growth of west China, and strengthen the China-ASEAN community of shared future.
Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce: promoting the Co-construction and Sharing of the Open Platform of Chengdu-Chongqing
On July 10, Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce signed the work plan of Promoting the Co-construction and Sharing of the Open Platform of Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster with Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, to further the cooperation between the two sides.
Knowing that a different layout will come into being during the new round of western development, Sichuan Province and Chongqing will seize the opportunity to boost the consolidation of city clusters and strengthen their cooperation in opening up and consumption with the innovation of free trade area system, industrial coordination and co-construction of exhibition platform as a highlight.
In the future, if any enterprise at China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone intends to enter China (Chongqing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, it can directly register and process-related formalities at Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone, or vice versa. Founding a demonstration area of coordinated opening-up of Sichuan Province and Chongqing pilot free trade zones, and exploring new method and model of further reform and opening-up of inland pilot free trade zones will be the supreme effort of both parties to establish an opening-up platform.
Then they will sincerely cooperate in areas including free investment, trade facilitation, financial reform and innovation, regulation during and after business, and change of governmental functions. Besides, they will actively innovate the cooperation mode of “enclave economy,” consolidate industrial cooperation, exploit new market and expand development space.
Sichuan Province and Chongqing will also encourage enterprises in their pilot free trade zones to exchange and cooperate concerning industrial park development, operation and management, industrial focus, transformation and upgrade, and other relevant fields. Meanwhile, to efficiently link the capital with industry, they will emphasize financial cooperation as well concentration on logistics finance, pledge to finance of intellectual property rights, science, and technology finance, and others. Participation in development zones construction is of equal importance.
For example, Changshou Economic and Technological Development Area will carry out a series of cooperation with Guang'an Economic and Technological Development Zone, regarding to a wide range of aspects including reciprocal investment promotion, exchange of advantageous resources, interaction of talents, system and mechanism innovation; Chongqing Shuangqiao Economic & Technological Development Zone will cooperate with Neijiang economic and Technological Development Zone, regarding to industrial coordination, project connection, platform co-construction, sharing of resources and policies, in order to establish an all-round strategic cooperation relation.
In the following stage, Sichuan Province and Chongqing will concentrate on the interaction and advance of large trade shows trying to promote consumption together. In this case, their cooperation involves invitation of speakers, preferential treatment for attendance, exhibition activities, advertisement and circulation, which will improve the leading trade shows at Sichuan Province and Chongqing, like Western China International Fair, Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade, and Smart China Expo. Also, they will incubate brand forums and exhibitions, to create a convention and exhibition cluster in Sichuan Province and Chongqing with complementary advantages.
On July 10, the industrial cooperation between Sichuan Province and Chongqing steps onto a new stage as the “2+16” cooperation agreements are officially launched in 2019.
According to the Key Work Plans in 2019 to Promote Industrial Cooperation among and Thriving of Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster (hereinafter referred to as “the Plans”) prepared by Chongqing Municipal Economy and Information Technology Commission and Sichuan Provincial Economic and Information Department, Sichuan Province and Chongqing will enhance the development and cooperation of critical industries, and build a nationwide influential industry chain and industrial cluster.
It has always been the feature of Sichuan Province-Chongqing industrial cooperation to construct a competitive industrial chain and industrial cluster based on industrial parks. Particularly, a large number of enterprises in cities (districts and counties) within the Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster are likely to cooperate through industrial parks due to the short distance, which has already been showing great vitality.
For instance, 82 out of 110 enterprises entering the mechanical and electric park at Linshui County, Guang'an Sichuan Province originate from Chongqing. Eventually, a complete industry chain of auto and motorcycle has emerged in Linshui; Chongqing Lee & Man Paper Mfg. Co., Ltd, a leading company at Chongqing has joined hands with counterparts from Sichuan Province and other regions, then found the first industrial cluster with an output value of RMB 10 billion at Yongchuan Gangqiao Industrial Park.
In the future, this cooperation layout will be further strengthened.
As revealed by the Plans, Sichuan Province and Chongqing are expected to strengthen cooperation in the following seven aspects: key industries, automobile and motorcycle industry, smart manufacturing and electronics & information technologies, food and beverage industry, technological innovation, economic regulation and regional outward opening-up.
Under this circumstance, Sichuan Province and Chongqing will encourage and support the industrial park construction between them and other cities taking advantage of their industrial development and relying on the interconnection of their railway, waterway and road transportation systems so as to set up an industrial and economic corridor with precise positioning, reasonable composition, complete supporting facilities, industrial chains for development and complementary advantages, and create an industrial chain and cluster with nationwide influence.
Meanwhile, they will encourage R&D entities, manufacturers and scientific research institutes of automobiles (new energy vehicles), motorcycles and parts to improve existing cooperation modes in order to bolster their cooperation in R&D and design of finished automobiles, assembly of key components, construction of testing services and other aspects of automobiles (new energy vehicles) and motorcycle industry. Thus, an automobile and motorcycle industrial corridor will gradually develop with close interaction, reasonable layout, complete industrial chain, and noticeable clustering effects, which will profoundly prompt the country to assess Sichuan Province and Chongqing as R&D and manufacturing base of automobiles (new energy vehicles) and motorcycles.
Following the trend of intelligentization, the Plan also proposes to speed up the transformation and upgrade of manufacturing industry by accelerating deep integration of production with information. Supported by the solid foundation and overwhelming trend of industrial development at Sichuan Province and Chongqing, they will speed up the integration of industries like electronic parts and components, communication terminals, automobile electronics, new materials for electronics information, R&D of electronic devices, textile, and bio-medicine, boost coordinated development of electronic information industry, and expand the new display industry.
For smooth implementation of the tasks mentioned above, technical coordination and thriving of Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster, the Plans also launches a series of measures to improve the working mechanism, strengthen industrial planning, practice, and connection, and establish a communication and cooperation platform.
To construct macro passage and connect dead-end road, Sichuan Province and Chongqing seek to promote the inter-connectivity of transportation infrastructures. On July 10, they jointly signed the Key Working Plan on Deepening the Sichuan-Chongqing Cooperation to Promote the Integrated Development of Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster (referred to as “the Plan”). As indicated by the Plan, Sichuan Province and Chongqing will weave an integrated web of transportation systems.
Regarding transportation facility construction, they will concentrate on railways, ports, highways, and others, particularly improve transportation infrastructure inter-connectivity between northeast Sichuan and northeast Chongqing, east Sichuan and west Chongqing, south Sichuan and south Chongqing.
Regarding railway construction, they will manage to commence the construction projects including Chengdu-Nanchong-Dazhou-Wanzhou high-speed railway along the Yangtze River, Chongqing-Xi'an and Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway.
Regarding highways, they will accelerate the construction of highway exits to further solve the problem of “dead-end road” and “bottleneck road” between provinces. Meanwhile, the Chongqing section of Tongnan-Rongchang highway will be put into use upon completion this year. Chongqing will quicken the progress of highway projects under construction like Chongqing sections of Dazu-Neijiang highway, Yongchuan-Luzhou highway, Hechuan-Anyue highway.
It will also speed up the construction of Chongqing section of Chongqing-Guangzhou secondary highway, and carry out preliminary works for Kaijiang-Liangping highway. As for Sichuan Province, it will try to finish designing Sichuan section of Tongliang-Anyue highway as soon as possible, which starts from Tongliang and ends at Zizhong-Leshan highway after passing Tongnan and Anyue.
They will make full use of the Yangtze River, a golden waterway, to eradicate the “bottleneck” and promote the construction of Yangtze River Economic Zone. Therefore, Sichuan Province and Chongqing will spare no effort to implement the following measures:
To further analyze, prepare, and fulfill solutions to the obstructed navigation of the Three Gorges Dam, and alleviate its regular traffic jam as much as practicably possible.
To establish facilitation mechanisms for trade and logistics at Yangtze River ports and improve the loading/unloading and customs clearance efficiency of foreign trade containers by completing the eastward passage from Sichuan Province and Chongqing to Shanghai and carrying out port cooperation.
To greatly encourage land-water combined transportation by constructing a new channel from Dazhou to Wanzhou port that leads to the Yangtze River and ocean nearby; to finish the follow-up construction of port hubs like Guoyuan Port and speed up the development of essential ports like Xinsheng Port at Zhongxian County.
With respect to the Yangtze River channel, Sichuan Province and Chongqing will accelerate the construction of Lize Navigation Junction at the Jialingjiang River and improve the channel of the Fujiang River; speed up the preparation works for waterway improvement projects like improvement works of Yichang-Chongqing section of the Yangtze River, and commence the improvement work of Fuling-Chaotianmen section of the Yangtze River as soon as reasonably possible.
Railway
Strive to commence projects including Chengdu-Nanchong-Dazhou-Wanzhou high-speed railway along the Yangtze River, Chongqing-Xi'an and Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railways this year. Chengdu-Nanchong-Dazhou-Wanzhou high-speed railway runs through Chengdu and Dazhou and terminates at Wanzhou. Chongqing-Kunming railway successively passes Chongqing, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, and Yunnan Province, significantly saving the traveling time from south Sichuan to Chongqing.
Highway
Accelerate highway exit construction to further solve the problem of “dead-end road” and “bottleneck road” between provinces. Meanwhile, the Chongqing section of Tongnan-Rongchang highway will be put into use upon completion this year.
Waterway
Both sides decide to prepare and fulfill solutions to the obstructed navigation of the Three Gorges Dam, and alleviate its regular traffic jam as much as practicably possible. To establish facilitation mechanisms for trade and logistics at Yangtze River ports and improve the loading/unloading and customs clearance efficiency of foreign trade containers by completing the eastward passage from Sichuan Province and Chongqing to Shanghai and carrying out port cooperation.
Source: Chongqing Daily
Related links:
By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.
For any inquiries, please email service@ichongqing.info