Jilong, Xizang: The millennium old road has become a "bridgehead" for development. From Keelung | Port | Bridgehead

The former Xizang Jilong: the millennium old road has become a "bridgehead"

People's Daily Online, Shigatse, August 14, "From scratch, from existence to excellence. It can be said that I have witnessed the development of the Jilong Port." Li Chaohua, Secretary General of the Trade Association of the Jilong Border Economic Cooperation Zone, Shigatse City, Xizang Autonomous Region, told reporters.

Jilong Port is located in Jilong County, known as the "Back Garden of Mount Everest". With mild climate, suitable altitude and beautiful scenery, it has a unique beauty of "one mountain presents four seasons and ten miles of different days". Since ancient times, it has been the main road for exchanges and trade between China's Xizang and Nepal, as well as the ancient Boni road connecting China with countries in South Asia.

Keelung Port. Photo by Ma Xueliang

In 2015, Li Chaohua came to Jilong, and in his memory, it could be described as "having nothing" at that time. "There is almost no infrastructure, let alone development."

Another person who shares the same feeling is Ma Xueliang, the head of Musa International Logistics Branch at Keelung Port. "After the opening and closing of the Keelung Port in 2015, I came. Apart from the scenery, there was nothing."

Starting from scratch means more challenges and opportunities.

As an important node of the "the Belt and Road", Jilong Port is the gateway of Xizang's opening up. In December 2014, the bilateral port of Keelung was opened; In 2017, it was upgraded to an international port and opened to personnel from third countries outside of China and Nepal. In March 2022, the Jilong Border Economic Cooperation Zone was approved to be established, making it the 18th border economic cooperation zone in China and the first national border economic cooperation zone in Xizang.

Focusing on the Southwest Gateway, it emerged and grew according to the situation. Today's Jilong, facing South Asia, implements the current border cooperation zone policy, cultivates and develops international commerce and trade, modern logistics, border trade processing, border tourism and other industries with distinctive advantages, speeds up the building of an important channel for opening up to South Asia, deeply participates in the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" cooperation, promotes the stability and economic and social development of border areas, has organically integrated domestic and overseas resources and two markets, gone out, invited in, diversified interaction, and industrial docking, and is committed to building Xizang into an industrial cluster linked to China and South Asia.

"Under the general goal of comprehensively building a cooperation demonstration platform for China South Asia opening up and a new model for Xizang's opening up cooperation, the Jilong Border Area is planned and constructed in accordance with the" one axis "," three clusters "and" multiple nodes "." The relevant person in charge of the Jilong Border Area introduced.

Among them, the "Jilong Town Group" is to build an international tourism development zone to focus on the development of tourism industry as the final destination of Xizang tourism and the starting point of cross-border tourism in South Asia. The "Bangxing Group" mainly aims to build an international logistics multimodal transportation development zone, with a focus on developing modern logistics and international trade industries, and promoting the construction of a national logistics park with a land border port in Shigatse. The Xinjiang Group focuses on developing functional industries such as international energy reserves, import and export border trade, and processing and assembly, mainly creating projects such as traditional Chinese medicine processing, agricultural and livestock product processing, ethnic handicraft processing, and assembly of electromechanical and automotive parts.

Vehicles loaded with goods are ready for export. Photo by Ma Xueliang

"In 2016, the Jilong Port was officially developed and constructed on a large scale, with increasingly improved infrastructure. Logistics parks, yards, and parking lots have all been established. It can be said that the functions of the port have gradually become complete. Now, there are 15 logistics oriented enterprises and more than 40 trade oriented enterprises here. Speaking of these, Li Chaohua is full of pride:" Watching the port construction improve, goods, personnel entry and exit channels are continuously optimized and deeply integrated, from border towns to thriving international ports, there are new changes every day. It is a great honor to participate in them. "

Export goods. Photo by Ma Xueliang

Since the beginning of the construction of the Keelung Port, Ma Xueliang has been rooted here and engaged in the logistics industry. Taking advantage of the "the Belt and Road", it has brought many development dividends to enterprises. "Our company's main business is to purchase materials for the construction of bridges on the 'the Belt and Road'. In addition, there are various kinds of department stores, including clothing, cloth, Xinjiang walnuts, Gansu apples, local wild onions, etc. Throughout the port, the daily export volume of department stores is about 500 tons," he said.

The development of Jilong Port is in full swing, and with the constant flow of transportation vehicles, these goods are continuously exported, which has also driven a large number of local residents to increase employment and income. "There are now over 3000 hotel beds at the Keelung Port, which are fully booked every day and require advance booking," said a hotel manager.

"Now, we are taking advantage of the trend of new energy vehicles, changing our export structure, and achieving a transformation from low value-added to high value-added. After entering the peak season in early August this year, the daily export volume was 30 vehicles, expected to exceed 50 vehicles in September, and reach 70 vehicles in October." Li Chaohua introduced, "Trade is two-way. With the development of import and export business, a series of preparatory work is also constantly being standardized, and the international trade balance is gradually stabilizing. For example, Nepal's bulk commodity green storage feed officially entered the Chinese market on July 20th, and the mineral water in Re Suwa has also completed customs declaration in early August. Next, the government will also introduce relevant policies to promote the bilateral economy of border cooperation zones. High quality development."

The millennium old road, with its border in Jilong, is home to brilliant civilization and has created a millennium of prosperity. With the continuous advancement of the "the Belt and Road" strategy, Jilong has become the "bridgehead" of China's opening up to South Asia under the new situation.