(Focus on China-ASEAN Expo) The new international land-sea trade channel has become a regional "collective dance"?

　　China News Service, Nanning, September 12 (Reporter Jiang Xuelin and Yang Qiang) "There are more and more types of cargo transportation, and the goods are going farther and farther." This is a new channel for logistics providers to international land and sea trade (referred to as "New Land and Sea Channel" ")evaluation of.

How can the new land-sea channel built by Singapore and China be transformed from a “dusty dance” between China and Singapore to a regional “collective dance”?

This has become a hot topic of discussion among the guests of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo that is being held here.

　　Smooth logistics: ASEAN countries gain tangible benefits

　　"Sharing new opportunities for land and sea channels" is the theme of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo (referred to as the China-ASEAN Expo).

After three years of construction, ASEAN countries have already gained tangible benefits from it.

　　Statistics from the Chinese railway department show that the new rail-sea intermodal train in the western land-sea channel initially only had one train per week, but now there are more than 10 trains per day.

The rail-sea combined transport of the new land-sea channel has rapidly increased from 178 in 2017 to 4607 in 2020; despite the raging epidemic, as of the end of August this year, a total of 3,624 rail-sea combined trains in the new land-sea channel have operated, an increase of 80% year-on-year.

　　“When I visited Chongqing in 2019, I witnessed the extensive network formed by this channel and the huge potential.” Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Policy Coordination Wang Ruijie said in a video speech at the 18th China-ASEAN Expo. , The new land-sea channel connects western China and Southeast Asia more directly, saving logistics time and costs for these rapidly developing regions.

　　After more than three years of construction, the source of imports from China for the new land-sea channel has expanded from Singapore to ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

In the first seven months of this year, a total of 18,000 tons of ASEAN fruits from China were imported through the China-Vietnam cross-border train.

After entering the country, these fruits enter the Chinese inland market through the new land-sea channel.

ASEAN products such as Singapore's pulp, Thailand's cassava flour, Vietnam's protective clothing, and Myanmar's plates have also continuously entered the Chinese market through the new land-sea channel.

　　The trade volume between ASEAN and the western region of China is also rising.

In the four provinces of Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guangxi, the trade volume with ASEAN increased from 447.1 billion yuan (RMB, the same below) in 2017 to 590.7 billion yuan in 2019, with a compound growth rate of 15%.

　　Full of charm: "Dancing duo" becomes regional "group dance"?

　　In order to make the new channel from a “dancing duo” between China and Singapore to a “collective dance” between China and ASEAN, the key is how to make ASEAN countries get more dividends from participating in the construction of this channel.

　　Xu Ningning, executive director of the China-ASEAN Business Council, said that the new opening and development opportunities brought about by RCEP's coming into effect should be used to formulate and implement a new land-sea channel international cooperation action plan, and integrate the construction of the new land-sea channel into China-ASEAN multilateral and bilateral cooperation. , To inject new vitality into China-ASEAN cooperation.

　　At present, due to factors such as ASEAN’s own industrial level, degree of marketization, and economic strength, the amount of goods from ASEAN going northward to enter the Chinese market through the new land-sea channel is less than that from China going south.

Zhuang Guotu, chairman of the Chinese Association of Southeast Asian Nations and a distinguished professor of Xiamen University, therefore suggested that to make the new land-sea channel truly prosper, China should increase its assistance to ASEAN countries in infrastructure construction and build a closer industrial chain with ASEAN countries.

Only after the development of ASEAN can it more effectively support the prosperity of the new land-sea corridor.

　　What is worth looking forward to is that relevant parties in China and ASEAN have connected the Lancang-Mekong cooperation with the "new international land-sea trade channel" in order to improve the level of the supply chain industry chain in the region.

Malaysia also looks forward to participating in the construction of a new land-sea channel by strengthening the cooperation between Kuantan Port and Guangxi Qinzhou Port.

　　Yang Donglun, executive vice chairman of the China-Laos Business Cooperation Promotion Committee of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in an interview that Laos will use its natural location advantages and increasingly perfect railway and road network to become a comprehensive hub for new land-sea corridors in the ASEAN region, and then drive the entire ASEAN direct connection. Europe.

　　Connecting North and South: Revitalizing more regions in Europe and Asia

　　In addition to dancing in the China-ASEAN region, all parties also look forward to revitalizing more regions in Europe and Asia through this "new land-sea corridor" that runs through the north and south.

　　Hao Nan, a scholar of international issues at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, said that the new land-sea corridor is in the “Belt and Road” construction plan for China-Mongolia-Russia, New Eurasian Continental Bridge, China-Central Asia-Western Asia, China-Indochina Peninsula, China Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and India. Myanmar plays an important role in the six economic corridors.

Through the "China-Europe Express Train", the "New Land-Sea Corridor" is expected to become an important channel for revitalizing the regional cooperation framework, connecting the six major economic corridors, and connecting the Asia-Europe continent.

　　In August this year, the new land-sea channel rail-sea combined transport and the China-Europe railway line realized the normal connection, which is the beginning of the new land-sea channel connecting Europe and Asia.

China and New Zealand will promote the expansion of cooperation between ASEAN countries and Western China, using Singapore and Chongqing as the nodes in Southeast Asia and Western China respectively, so that goods from ASEAN countries and Central Asian countries can be extended to each other's markets through new land and sea channels.

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