In 2021, the total number of trains in Northwest China will be less than a fraction of that in Chongqing
The construction of the new land-sea corridor has been accelerated in an all-round way, and the problem of "hot in the south and cold in the north" is to be solved
Our reporters Wang Jintao, Zhao Yufei, Wang Mingyu, Xu Jinyu
On the one hand, it is a new channel running through the western region, which provides extremely convenient objective conditions for goods from the northwest and southwest inland provinces to go to sea and abroad;
Under the complicated and severe situation such as the raging new crown pneumonia epidemic, the construction of the new land-sea corridor in the west has been accelerated in an all-round way, which has helped my country to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern.
However, with the construction of the channel, it has increasingly shown a trend of "hot in the south and cold in the north" - the total number of trains in the northwest region in 2021 will be less than a fraction of that in Chongqing.
Why did "south hot and north cold" appear?
How to release the potential of the new land-sea channel in the northwest region and solve the problem of "hot in the south and cold in the north"?
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter conducted a follow-up interview.
Leverage the opening-up development of the northwest region
The New Western Land-Sea Corridor is a new international land-sea trade channel created by the cooperation between the western provinces and ASEAN countries. With Chongqing as the operation center and various western provinces, regions and cities as key nodes, it uses railway, sea, road and other transportation methods to reach the south to all parts of the world. , the time required to go to sea is significantly shorter than that through the eastern region.
Under the complex and severe situation such as the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the construction of the new land-sea corridor has been accelerated in an all-round way.
"In September 2017, when the channel opened, there was only one line. Now the operating line has expanded rapidly and has extended to 319 ports in 107 countries (regions)." Liu Wei, director of the logistics and operation organization center of the new western land-sea channel, said.
The vast northwest region was once reduced to the "tip" of opening up due to its inherent locational disadvantage, and the new land-sea passage is becoming a lever for the opening and development of the northwest region.
At the beginning of this year, a batch of Ningxia wolfberry puree took the new land-sea train for the first time, arrived south at Qinzhou Port in Guangxi, and was successfully exported to Canada by sea, saving more than 30 days compared with the traditional combined transport route.
According to Peng Zongqiang, deputy director of Yinchuan Freight Center of China Railway Lanzhou Bureau Group Co., Ltd., the new land-sea channel has become a new logistics channel for Ningxia Unicom to Southeast Asia. Compared with the traditional rail-sea combined transportation route to Tianjin or Qingdao and then to Southeast Asia, the logistics time is greatly shortened.
Gansu is one of the initiators of the construction of the new land-sea passage.
Since the launch of the new land-sea new channel train on September 29, 2017, Gansu has shipped more than 700 trains, driving the import of Southeast Asian fruit, aquatic products and other specialty products, and the successful export of local chemical products, apples, onions and other products.
"Gansu lily, Ningxia wolfberry puree and dry red wine, Xinjiang nuts and other special products that were once 'hidden in the boudoir' have gone to the world along this fast new channel and are becoming a new growth point for local foreign trade." Lu Haixin Wang Yupei, chairman of Channel Operation Co., Ltd.
Not only that, the northwest region and southwest region also take advantage of the new land-sea channel to achieve coordinated development.
In the special cargo operation area of the Dongchuan Railway Freight Center of Gansu (Lanzhou) International Land Port, vehicles of various brands from Chongqing, Guangxi and other southwestern provinces and cities are densely arranged.
Li Jianliang, director of the Gansu (Lanzhou) International Land Port Management Committee, told reporters that these cars arrived in Lanzhou by domestic trade trains of the new land-sea passage, and then distributed to the northwest region, and the annual transportation of complete vehicles can reach 50,000.
"Coal from Shaanxi is being transported to Chongqing and other places through the new land-sea channel to alleviate the coal shortage. Soda ash from Qinghai is transported to Guangxi through the new land-sea channel to support the glass industry, and sunflower seeds from Xinjiang are transported to Sichuan and Chongqing through the new land-sea channel to become the raw material for nut production." Wang Yupei said.
The supply of goods is small and the cost is high, and the phenomenon of "hot in the south and cold in the north" is prominent
While the new western land-sea passage has stimulated the opening and development of the western provinces, a set of data also shows the "uneven heating" between the western provinces - in 2021, a total of more than 100 new land-sea passage trains will be operated in the northwest, while only Chongqing 2021 will be launched in the southwest. There are more than 2,200 lines opened in a year, and the total number of lines opened in the northwest region is less than a fraction of that in Chongqing.
The reporter learned that the main sources of goods in the northwest region are bulk industrial products, agricultural and sideline products, and the characteristics of "original brand name" and "heavy brand name" are obvious.
Peng Zongqiang said that the new land-sea passage is "cold" in the northwest, and the supply structure is one of the main factors. The product structure is single and there are few high-end products. Therefore, the Ningxia trains only run sporadically from time to time.
At the same time, compared with the southwest region, the northwest region is far away from ports such as Guangxi and Yunnan, and the railway from Chongqing, Chengdu to the Beibu Gulf of Guangxi enjoys a 30% discount in the freight rate, but the discount for the railway from the northwest province to Chongqing and Chengdu is less favorable. Small, causing the channel to greatly reduce the attractiveness of the northwest region.
A person in charge of the railway department calculated an account for the reporter: "Compared with the traditional railway-sea combined transportation route to sea via Qingdao in Shaanxi, the new land-sea channel has a long railway distance, and although the logistics speed has been improved, the freight rate is 3,000 yuan per box higher. Diversified, so customers are more inclined to take the traditional route.”
The reporter learned from the investigation that the northwest region has fallen into the embarrassing cycle of "less supply of goods - expensive freight - less supply of goods".
Channel operation platforms in the northwest said that if a greater tariff discount can be obtained, the new land-sea channel can attract more sources of goods, but if there is no sufficient supply of goods as a basis, it is difficult to reduce the freight rate.
A person in charge of Lanzhou International Land Port introduced that in addition to Chongqing, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Guizhou also rely on their location advantages and policy support. The scale of the trains has taken shape. Yunnan also relies on the China-Laos Railway and has huge development potential. The situation of "Northern Cold" will become more and more prominent in the future.
Looking forward to multi-party cooperation to solve the "hot in the south and cold in the north"
The reporter visited government departments and enterprises in the northwestern province, and strongly felt that they have reached a consensus that the "Belt and Road" is the biggest opportunity for the development of the northwest region, and it is imperative to stimulate the potential of the new land-sea corridor.
The grassroots expect that all parties will adhere to the problem orientation, increase overall planning and coordination, explore a more scientific and reasonable freight rate formation mechanism, improve the industrial layout along the route, and solve the problem of "hot in the south and cold in the north".
A person in charge of a state-owned enterprise in Ningxia suggested that the role of the new land-sea channel cooperation mechanism should be further utilized, relevant policies should be further unified, a smoother linkage mechanism should be formed in the northwest region, and policies such as subsidies should be targeted to the upstream and downstream enterprises of the channel.
"This is not only a foreign trade channel, but also a channel for smooth internal circulation under the background of building a unified national market and smooth 'dual circulation'." Wang Yupei said that the northwestern provinces can further identify the positioning and flexibly operate according to their own actual conditions. Domestic and foreign trade trains, rather than "rushing on" to launch international rail-sea combined transport trains.
The northwest region also needs to focus on building new land-sea passage hub nodes.
During the construction of the new land-sea passage, Lanzhou's location advantage of connecting the north and the south has been strengthened again, and it is the largest city in the northwest region with the new land-sea passage.
The grassroots suggested that the northwest region could highlight the status of Lanzhou as a hub, and build Lanzhou into a distribution center for goods from the northwest region to go south to the sea, so as to improve the comprehensive benefits of the new land-sea passage.
On this basis, explore a more scientific and reasonable freight rate formation mechanism.
Wang Yupei and other industry insiders suggested that we can refer to the China-Europe freight train to explore a "gambling" mechanism, that is, if the agreed freight volume is reached by the end of the year, the agreed preferential price can be implemented, and a "volume-price bundling" mechanism can be established, so that all parties can achieve mutual benefit. win-win.
In the long run, it is necessary to rely on the channel to improve the industrial layout in the northwest region.
The grassroots suggested that to fundamentally solve the problem of "hot in the south and cold in the north" of the new land-sea corridor, it is very important to improve the industrial layout in the northwest region. It can combine the characteristics of the new land-sea corridor and the China-Europe train to realize the organic connection of the two channels, and accelerate the layout in the areas along the route. It is suitable for Southeast Asia And the characteristic industries of Central Asia and Europe, such as promoting the construction of platforms such as international cooperation industrial parks, promoting the deepening of the interactive development with the industries of provinces, regions and cities along the channel, and supporting the northwestern provinces to deploy "enclave industrial parks" in the Beibu Gulf of Guangxi.