Inner Mongolia's 20 open ports forge interconnectivity

Situated on the northern frontier of China, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region shares borders with Russia and Mongolia. Along its 8,000-kilometer border, there are 20 open ports facilitating international exchanges.

In terms of highway ports, all 12 of Inner Mongolia's open ports have access to secondary or higher-level roads, with Ereenhot Port also being connected to an expressway. A highway transport network has been established across these ports, connecting border towns with major cities within the region by high-grade roads.

At present, the construction of expressways in Manzhouli and Ganqimaodu is being accelerated to further complement the existing infrastructure.

Regarding railway ports, Manzhouli and Ereenhot ports serve as the main entry and exit points for the eastern and central routes of the China-Europe Railway Express, respectively. Ereenhot Port is currently the only railway port connecting China with Mongolia.

Manzhouli Railway Port is China's largest railway port and the primary trade gateway between China and Russia, having witnessed remarkable growth in terms of its volume of transported goods.

In the first 10 months of this year, it handled an impressive 4,157 China-Europe Railway Express trains, with a total of 449,000 standard containers, which represented a year-on-year increase of 4 percent and 17.3 percent, respectively.

For the first time, Manzhouli Railway Port became the top-ranked in the nation in terms of both freight train volume and cargo volume.

Additionally, the State Council has approved six airports in Inner Mongolia to operate as international ports: Hohhot, Baotou, Ordos, Hailar, Manzhouli, and Ereenhot.

Of these, Hohhot aviation port has managed to attract an influx of international flights. In the first half of 2023, the airport recorded 101 international arrivals and departures, serving a total of 4,296 passengers.

Hailar aviation port has gradually resumed international routes since May 2023, opening flight connections to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia and Chita in Russia.

Ereenhot aviation has also received approval from the State Council and is now under construction.

As Inner Mongolia continues to expand its networks of road, railway and aviation ports, the region's crucial role in facilitating international trade and cross-border exchanges has never been more evident.