Jin Guanping: Creating a “Western Model” of Channel Economy
During his inspection in Chongqing, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor is of great significance in promoting the formation of an opening-up pattern of "linkage between land and sea at home and abroad, and mutual assistance between east and west". At present, the development of the western region is facing new development opportunities. It is necessary to further build and operate the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, create a "Western Model" of the corridor economy, and provide more support for expanding regional opening up, promoting coordinated development, and connecting domestic and international dual circulation.
The New Western Land-Sea Corridor is located in the hinterland of western my country. It is connected to the Silk Road Economic Belt to the north, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to the south, and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It has an important strategic position in the coordinated regional development pattern. In the five years since the "New Western Land-Sea Corridor Master Plan" was implemented, various provinces in the west have successively joined the "circle of friends" of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. Inter-regional interconnection capabilities have been continuously improved, logistics operation efficiency has been significantly improved, and the scope of economic radiation has become increasingly broad. The New Land-Sea Corridor has become a central and western region. The leading channel for regional goods to go out to sea and outbound trade.
At present, the logistics network of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor has covered 514 ports in 123 countries and regions around the world, and the number of rail-sea combined trains has increased from more than 900 in 2019 to more than 9,000 in 2023. In the past five years, infrastructure construction represented by land-sea linkage has been fully rolled out, cross-border railway construction has been advanced in an orderly manner, and external connectivity capabilities have been continuously improved; the logistics operation system represented by multimodal transport has been gradually improved, relying on key ports and freight stations Fields and port facilities have been linked together to form a chain, a multi-level logistics operation system has been basically formed, and the logistics service capabilities of new channels have been greatly improved.
Transportation and logistics are linked together to form a chain, and the New Western Land-Sea Corridor has become an important starting point for high-level opening up to the outside world. The vivid practice of the construction and operation of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor has also produced a number of new models and new experiences. For example, we will continue to promote the reform of customs clearance facilitation and the "one-order system" for multimodal transport to open up logistics congestion points and achieve smooth flow of goods. In 2022, China's first sea-rail combined transport automated container terminal will be put into use in Qinzhou. Technology empowerment will make sea-rail combined transport seamless. Relying on the construction of smart ports, the efficiency of one-time joint inspections and paperless customs clearance such as maritime, customs, and entry-exit border inspections in Yunnan Province has been accelerated. Chongqing Liangjiang New Area is actively exploring new measures for institutional opening-up, further reducing the negative list, and creating a first-class business environment.
Under the new situation, the construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West should fully grasp the major opportunities of jointly building the "Belt and Road" and the strategic positioning of high-level opening up, and break through bottlenecks in infrastructure, resource integration, transportation organization, and industry collaboration along the route. Further optimize the transportation network of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West, strengthen the construction of software and hardware infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, warehouses, and data networks, and better realize interconnection within and outside the region. Accelerate the construction of a modern comprehensive logistics system and continue to improve channel logistics efficiency. On the basis of improving transportation and logistics efficiency, explore the establishment of logistics industry clusters, promote the development of industrial agglomeration along the routes, promote the integration of ports, industries and cities, and create advantageous and characteristic industrial clusters. Continue to deepen the reform and innovation of systems and mechanisms, actively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, steadily expand institutional opening up of rules, regulations, management, and standards, and promote the "one-item system" and "one-box system" for multimodal transport and targeted financial services, The data service comes into effect.
