The fifth anniversary of the implementation of the Master plan for the New Land-Sea Corridor in Western China: Bringing ASEAN closer across mountains and seas

"The new land-sea Trade Channel provides a convenient way for China's western provinces to go to the sea, and it is also the most convenient maritime trade channel connecting China's western region to Southeast Asia." Yu Hong, a senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, said in a recent interview that the new land-sea route, which spans mountains and seas, has brought ASEAN and western China closer together.

According to Yu, the new land-sea corridor will attract enterprises from Singapore and other ASEAN countries to invest in western China such as Guangxi and Chongqing, and also allow more products from western China to enter Singapore, ASEAN and even the global market through the corridor.

As for the business opportunities presented by the new Land-Sea Corridor in western China (known as the New international Land-Sea Trade Corridor), Singapore enterprises have already taken the lead. As the largest shipping company in Southeast Asia, Singapore Pacific Shipping Group has already laid out a layout in Guangxi and invested in the construction of China-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park in Nanning.

This year marks the fifth year of the implementation of the Master Plan for the New Land-Sea Corridor in Western China. According to the information provided by China Railway Nanning Bureau Group Co., LTD., in the past five years, the "circle of friends" of rail-sea combined freight trains of the new Western Land and Sea Corridor has expanded from 14 provinces in China to 18 provinces, and the flow of goods has increased from 190 ports in 90 countries and regions to 518 ports in 124 countries and regions. The number of container goods transported increased from 94,000 TEUs in 2019 to 861,000 TEUS in 2023, an increase of 8.16 times.

Revitalize western China

At Qinzhou Port in Guangxi, an important node of the new land-sea passage in the west, viewed from a height, Qinzhou port is full of quay Bridges and ships shuttering. The former bulk cargo wharf is becoming the hub port of the new land-sea passage in the west.

As the first planned domestic outlet of the new Western Land-Sea Passage and the "main force" of the rail-sea combined transport train of the Northern Bay Port, Qinzhou Port has a large number of goods entering and leaving every day. From January to June this year, 276,800 TEUs were transported through the Beibu Gulf Port sea-to-sea combined train, up 22.7 percent year on year. The Beibu Gulf Port handled 4.32 million TEUs, up 19.8 percent year on year.

The rapid development of Qinzhou Port is an epitome of the new land-sea corridor in western China to revitalize the development and opening up of western China. Guizhou, which is not along the river, the coast or the border, has solved the problem of lack of port functions and insufficient resource integration through the linkage between the new Western Land-sea Passage and the China-Europe Freight train, and built Guiyang International Land Port, the first comprehensive protection international land port in China. Longnan, located in the southeast of Gansu Province, has a large number of high-quality agricultural products, but the export of agricultural products has long been restricted by the problem of poor logistics. After the freight train of the new western land-sea channel opened in the west cargo yard of Longnan City, the local agricultural products went out of the country smoothly.

    The most significant change is in Chongqing Tuanjiecun Station. The new land-sea corridor in western China connects this "small village" with ASEAN, Central Asia and Europe. Relying on Chongqing Railway Container Center Station, Xinglongchang super-large railway marshalling yard, Chongqing Railway Port and Chongqing International Railway Port Comprehensive Reserve Zone, Tuanjiecun has changed from a fourth-grade station to a logistics hub that develops in four ways, east, west, north and south.

China and ASEAN Win-win Situation

"A few years ago, our region was just a wast-land with little flow of people. Now, thanks to the construction of the new land-sea corridor in the west, our company has made full use of innovative ideas and unique operation mode to build an international logistics park and China-ASEAN characteristic commodity convergence center, and has received attention and support from the political and business communities, and successfully attracted the attention of many enterprises in ASEAN countries. It has become a logistics and economic and trade hub connecting ASEAN countries. It has settled in 5,000 kinds of commodities and received about 4,000-5,000 visits per month on average." Zhao Haiyan, chairman of Guangxi Xinzhong Industrial Investment Co. LTD.

    The China-ASEAN Featured Commodity Convergence Center is located in the China-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park, a key project of Guangxi to promote the construction of a new land-sea corridor in western China. It is invested and built by Singapore Taiping Shipping. The China-Asean one-stop shopping platform built by the center focuses on the featured commodities of ASEAN countries and countries jointly built by the Belt and Road Initiative, and promotes the deep integration of industrial chain, supply chain and value chain. To help merchants better explore the market, and strive to become the first stop for ASEAN merchants to enter the Chinese market, as well as the window for Chinese merchants to expand overseas markets.

Zhao Haiyan's company has invested 10 billion yuan in Guangxi to build the China-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park, actively playing an important role as a logistics hub and enhancing the level of connectivity between China and ASEAN countries. At present, the park has introduced more than 30 leading enterprises of the world's top 500 and China's top 100 logistics companies to settle in.

In 2023, Jingui will export 470,000 tons of white card paper, accounting for more than 99% of the export through the Beibu Gulf port. In addition to water transport, some products exported to Russia also benefit from the new land-sea channel in the west.

Yu Hong said that the new land-sea corridor has activated the western part of China, connecting the western part of China with ASEAN, and better integrated the western part of China into the global economy. The new land-sea trade route also enables enterprises from Singapore and other ASEAN countries to participate more in the economic development of western China and lay out the vast market in western China.

Improving the channel network

In addition to the construction of Qinzhou Port, which is the hub port of the new land-sea passage in the west, the construction of Huangbai Railway, a landmark project of the new land-sea passage in the west and an important part of the new land-sea passage in the west, is also in full swing. Key projects of the Chongzuo to Pingxiang section of the Nanbian high-speed Railway, which directly connects China-Vietnam border cities, have been basically completed. It is expected to be completed and opened to traffic next year, when the main transport capacity of the railway will be further improved.

In terms of improving the channel network, the Pinglu Canal has attracted the most attention from the outside world. As the backbone of the new land-sea passage in western China, Pinglu Canal is the first grand canal connecting rivers and seas since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"After the completion of the Pinglu Canal, goods from southwest China will go to sea, shortening the inland river voyage by more than 560 kilometers compared with Guangzhou Port, and saving more than 5.2 billion yuan in transportation costs along the new land-sea passage in western China every year." Introduction by Hu Huaping, deputy director of the Department of Transport of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

As a Singaporean scholar, Yu Hong believes that the Pinglu Canal under construction can realize the direct connection between inland waterways and Marine transportation in southwest China. In the future, it will greatly release the logistics and transportation advantages and potential of the new international land-sea trade channel.

Yu Hong said that the construction of the Pinglu Canal will further strengthen the attraction of the new land-sea trade channel, which can attract and gather more goods from western provinces in China to use the new land-sea trade channel, and make Qinzhou Port the first choice for goods from western provinces in China to go to sea to Southeast Asia, thus activating the economic development and industrialization process of Guangxi.

To expand the world market together

Channel with logistics, logistics with economy and trade, economy and trade with industry. It can be predicted that in the future, the new land-sea corridor in western China will closely connect the Chengdu-Chongqing region, the Beibu Gulf city cluster and ASEAN, creating more miracles across mountains and seas to embrace the world.

The connectivity between Chinese and ASEAN seaports is already increasing. Song Haitao, executive director and general manager of Guangxi Qinzhou Free Trade Port Shenggang Terminal Co., LTD., said that by the end of July 2024, the number of routes from the North Bay Port to ASEAN countries will be 35, accounting for 46% of the total number of 76 routes, achieving full coverage of major ports in the ASEAN region.

  "The cooperation of the new land-sea channel in the west has opened a new mode for the cooperation between China and ASEAN in the field of logistics. The channel has connected the ports and logistics bases of many countries in the world from one line to another. The network formed by the new Western Land-Sea Corridor connects China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe and Latin America, as well as some African countries. It expands the commodity markets of China and ASEAN, and improves the competitiveness of Chinese and ASEAN commodities after reducing the cost of transportation through the new land-sea corridor." Lei Xiaohua, deputy director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies under the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview.

Lei Xiaohua said that the new western land-sea corridor, which connects China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe and Latin America, as well as Africa, has accelerated the process of regional integration, formed a closer regional integration and promoted the development of economic globalization.