Land-Sea Trade Corridor promotes manufacturing and logistics

The Annual Conference of Linkage Development of the China Manufacturing and Logistics Industry and New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor Development Forum was held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on July 19.

More than 700 experts and enterprise representatives of the manufacturing and logistics industries carried out discussions around several themes, including port economy and logistics channel development, smart construction and new logistics, smart supply chain innovation and development, as well as Land-Sea Trade Corridor logistics.

Hu Yadong, president of the China Communications and Transportation Association, noted at the forum that as the second largest economy in the world, China's real economy has led to strong logistics demand. According to statistics, the total cost of logistics in China reached 13.3 trillion yuan ($1.93 trillion) in 2018.

Hu also said that in 2019, China's transportation industry will complete an investment of about 1.8 trillion yuan in road and waterway fixed assets, as well as that infrastructure supplements will accelerate.

China will promote the construction and development of the Land-Sea Trade Corridor in the west and integrate resources of both international and domestic markets, especially the unique advantages of connection between Guangxi and ASEAN, to connect the northwest and southwest regions of China with Southeast Asia and Central Asia.

Yang Jinbai, vice chairman of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, said at the forum that the Land-Sea Trade Corridor has made breakthroughs in cross-regional linkage, rail-and-sea transportation, and customs clearance efficiency, which will promote the complementary development of industries, market docking, and integration development between western China and Southeast Asian countries. It will also promote the formation of a China-ASEAN new international supply chain, as well as promote the joint development of the manufacturing and logistics industries in regions along the Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

In the first half of 2019, the number of sea-rail trips from Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port to Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming, and other cities reached 1,017, an increase of 203 percent year on year. Driven by the Land-Sea Trade Corridor, Beibu Gulf Port completed a container throughput of 1.6 million TEUs in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 19 percent, and its cargo throughput was 77.84 million tons, an increase of 13.46 percent.