Walking into Nanning International Railway Port, you can see tower cranes loading containers on the railway-sea combined transport train. As the core node hub of the Western Land-Sea Corridor, Nanning International Railway Port has opened multiple routes to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe and other regions.

The 2024 Chinese and Foreign Media Interview on the New Western Land-Sea Corridor was held in Nanning on September 6. During the week, the interview team, composed of leaders and reporters from mainstream media in ASEAN countries, overseas Chinese media, and positive network experts, will conduct on-the-go interviews in Nanning International Railway Port, Chongqing Tuanjie Village Station and other places to understand the business opportunities presented by the implementation of the “Overall Plan for the New Western Land-Sea Corridor” for five years. The interview was hosted by the Publicity Department of the CPC Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee and the Publicity Department of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, and undertaken by the Guangxi Branch and Chongqing Branch of China News Service.

Win-win situation between China and ASEAN

As the largest shipping company in Southeast Asia, Singapore’s Pacific Shipping Group has long been eyeing business opportunities in the New Western Land-Sea Corridor and has invested in the construction of the Sino-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park in Nanning.

“A few years ago, our area was just a wasteland. Now, thanks to the construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, our company has made full use of innovative ideas and unique operating models to build an international logistics park and a China-ASEAN specialty goods gathering center. Many companies from ASEAN countries have settled in, and the number of product categories has reached 5,000,” said Zhao Haiyan, chairman of Guangxi Xinzhong Industrial Investment Co., Ltd.

Zhao Haiyan’s company invested 10 billion yuan in Guangxi to build the Sino-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park. Currently, the park has attracted more than 30 leading companies from the Fortune Global 500 and China’s top 100 logistics companies to settle in.

Another company that has found development opportunities in the construction of the new channel is Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group. It has established Guangxi Jingui Pulp and Paper Co., Ltd. in Guangxi. In 2023, Jingui exported 470,000 tons of white cardboard, with more than 99% of its exports going through Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port. In addition to water transportation, some products exported to Russia also benefit from the new western land-sea channel.

“The New Western Land-Sea Corridor provides a convenient route to the sea for China’s western provinces, and it is also the most convenient maritime trade channel connecting China’s western region with Southeast Asia.” Yu Hong, a senior researcher at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, said in an interview with reporters that the New Western Land-Sea Corridor crosses mountains and seas, shortening the distance between ASEAN and western China.

Yu Hong said that the new channel is a win-win situation for ASEAN and China. It can attract companies from ASEAN countries such as Singapore to invest in China’s western region, and it can also allow more products from China’s western region to enter the ASEAN and even global markets through the channel.

Information provided by China Railway Nanning Bureau Group Co., Ltd. shows that this new trade corridor, originally initiated by Guangxi, Chongqing and Singapore, has rapidly expanded its “circle of friends” in the past five years. The number of railway-sea combined transport trains on the Western Land-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 around the world. The volume of transported container cargo has increased from 94,000 TEUs in 2019 to 861,000 TEUs in 2023, an increase of 8.16 times.

The Western Land-Sea New Corridor has not only benefited Guangxi, but also Chongqing, another initiator, has also undergone profound changes in recent years due to the Western Land-Sea New Corridor. Chongqing Tuanjiecun Station was originally a small station on the railway line. The Western Land-Sea New Corridor has connected 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 Bonded Zone, Tuanjiecun Station has transformed into a logistics hub with “four directions” from east to west, north to south.

The Western Land-Sea Corridor has also activated China’s western region. Guizhou, which is not along a river, a coast or a border, has solved the problem of lack of port functions and insufficient resource integration through the linkage between the Western Land-Sea Corridor and the China-Europe Express. In Gansu, after the Western Land-Sea Corridor started running trains at the West Freight Yard in Longnan City, local agricultural products have been successfully “exported”.

Improve the channel network

In order to facilitate the smooth flow of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, the construction of relevant channel networks is in full swing. The Huangbai Railway, a landmark project of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor and an important part of the Western Corridor, has been fully started. The key projects of the Chongzuo to Pingxiang section of the Nanping High-speed Railway, which directly connects the China-Vietnam border cities, have been basically completed and are expected to be completed and opened to traffic next year. By then, the transportation capacity of the corridor’s railway trunk line will be further enhanced.

In terms of improving the channel network, the construction of the Pinglu Canal has attracted the most attention from the outside world. As the backbone project of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, the Pinglu Canal is the first large canal connecting the river and the sea since the founding of New China.

“After the completion of the Pinglu Canal, goods from southwest China can be shipped out to the sea through it, shortening the inland voyage by more than 560 kilometers compared to the Guangzhou Port. It will help the areas along the Western Land-Sea Corridor save more than 5.2 billion yuan in transportation costs each year,” said Hu Huaping, deputy director of the Department of Transportation of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

As a Singaporean scholar, Yu Hong believes that the Pinglu Canal, which is under construction, can directly connect the inland waterways and ocean transportation in southwest China, and will greatly release the logistics and transportation advantages and potential of the new western land-sea channel in the future.

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Yu Hong said that the construction of the Pinglu Canal will further enhance the attractiveness of the New Land-Sea Corridor. It will be able to attract and gather more goods from provinces in China’s western region to use the Western Land-Sea Corridor, and will make Qinzhou Port the first choice for goods from China’s western provinces to be shipped to Southeast Asia, thereby activating Guangxi’s economic development and industrialization process.

Expanding the global market　　

The channel brings logistics, logistics brings trade, and trade brings industry. It can be foreseen that in the future, the new western land-sea channel will closely connect China and ASEAN, creating more miracles across mountains and seas to embrace the world.

The interconnection between China and ASEAN seaports has been strengthened. Song Haitao, executive director and general manager of Guangxi Qinzhou Bonded Port Area Shenggang Terminal Co., Ltd., said that by the end of July 2024, the number of routes from Beibu Gulf 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 on the New Western Land-Sea Corridor has opened up a new model of cooperation between China and ASEAN in the field of logistics. The channel has evolved from a line to a surface, connecting ports and logistics bases in many countries around the world. 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, broadening the commodity markets between China and ASEAN, and reducing the costs of Chinese and ASEAN products due to the transportation of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, thereby improving their competitiveness.” Lei Xiaohua, deputy director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with reporters.

Lei Xiaohua said that the New Western Land-Sea Corridor has accelerated the process of regional integration by connecting China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa, forming a closer regional integration and promoting the development of economic globalization.