In September 2021, the construction of Huaihua International Land Port kicked off. Taking this as an opportunity, Huaihua seized the historical opportunity, rose up for a second entrepreneurship, and explored a high-quality development path.
(Aerial Photo of Huaihua International Land Port)
Huaihua, as the only node city where the new land and sea channel in the west meets the China-Laos railway in the central region, is another node city on the Shanghai- Kunming artery. It is committed to promoting the construction of the International Land Port, rising from the beginning and making a leap every year. Focusing on building a first-class International Land Port in the central and western regions, Huaihua will promote the port industry to reach a hundred billion level. It strives to build Huaihua International Land Port into a strategic platform for Hunan’s integration into the construction of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, an important base for the opening up of inland areas, an important engine for the connection of central and western regions with the important pivot of ASEAN, and an important engine for high-quality development of Wuling Mountain area. Relying on foreign trade transport modes such as rail-sea, road-rail intermodal transport, it will accelerate the integrated development of port, industry, port, and city.
As of now, Huaihua International Land Port has taken advantage of its unique endowment and has opened up four international logistics channels, namely the Beibu Gulf rail-sea intermodal transportation and China-Laos, China-Vietnam, and China -Myanmar. It has opened 77 international and domestic transportation routes, connecting with 86 countries and regions in ASEAN, Europe and America, and attracting 70% of the goods from the western land sea new channel to travel south to ASEAN. International trains have been upgraded from “once a month” to “once a day”.
(The luggage train departing from Huaihua International Land Port )
Normalized international trains open up the mountain route for “Huaihua Products”
On the morning of October 13th, 2023, in the production workshop of Hunan Zhushui Sculpture Art Co., Ltd., workers were busy making a batch of sculpture products. These are cultural and tourism products independently designed, produced, and processed by the company. They depart from Huaihua International Land Port in mid-November and are transported to Thailand. This is also the first time that Huaihua’s cultural and tourism products have stepped out of the mountains and entered the outside world.
(Workers from Hunan Zhushui Sculpture Art Co., Ltd. are packaging cultural and tourism products to prepare for the departure.)
Since the beginning of this year, there have been continuous foreign trade trains departing from Huaihua International Land Port, passing through the Beibu Gulf rail- sea intermodal transportation and the four international logistics channels of China- Laos, China-Vietnam, and China-Myanmar, reaching ASEAN and European and American countries. As an inland city, Huaihua has taken a solid step towards the sea.
On April 17th, 75,000 boxes and bags produced in Huitong County departed from Huaihua International Land Port, passed through Guangzhou Nansha Port for customs clearance and directly arrived in Poland, Europe, achieving immediate release of foreign trade import and export goods.
(The workers are rushing for the luggage production.)
On May 4th, 2023, the first batch of 16 standard boxes of 500 tons of broken rice purchased by Zhongfang County Tiantian Food Technology Co., Ltd. from Yangon, Myanmar, smoothly arrived at the Huaihua International Land Port along the sea-rail intermodal route of “Yangon-Qinzhou-Huaihua”. The company imports 10,000 tons annually and exports Rice noodles to Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and other ASEAN countries by adopting the double circulation model of international trade.
On May 17th, 2023, Yuanling County shipped 2,500 tons of semi-finished pine timber from Yuanling and arrived at Qinzhou Port in Guangxi through Huaihua International Land Port, achieving a “highway- rail-sea” intermodal transportation.
On June 27th, 2023, the “Huaihua-Beibu Gulf” rail-sea intermodal special train of Taiping Shipping, a new land sea channel, was launched from Huaihua International Land Port. This special train carries 40 boxes of chemical raw material products, which will be transported by railway to the Port of Beibu Gulf and then shipped by sea directly to the Port of Klang, Malaysia.
On the morning of October 30, 2023, an international scheduled train for rural revitalization, loaded with agricultural products, agricultural machinery and equipment, and chemical products, departed from Huaihua and headed for Vientiane, Laos, along the China-Laos Railway. The first launch of the Huaihua International Land Port Rural Revitalization Plan scheduled train marks the beginning of the charge for rural revitalization trains operating in various parts of the country, making the train a “wealth express” that connects internal and external, radiates the surrounding areas, and provides mutual assistance.
(The first Huaihua-Vientiane China-Laos Rural Revitalization Special Train for Huaihua Agricultural Products Export departs to ASEAN.)
By the end of this October, Huaihua International Land Port has opened 358 international trains this year, with a cargo value of 1.62 billion yuan, an increase of 198% and 97% respectively year-on-year. The “golden card” effect of the International Land Port continues to be released, with the import and export volume of Huaihua increasing by 119% in the first three quarters, and the import and export volume to RCEP and ASEAN countries increasing by 105.5% and 170.8% respectively.
(The three-dimensional transportation forms a “米” shape in the Huaihua International Land Port Economic Development Zone)
It has established a leading group for the construction of inland ports led by the Secretary of Huaihua Municipal Party Committee and the Mayor, and hold a plenary session of the Municipal Party Committee to review and approve documents such as the “Decision on Accelerating the Construction of Huaihua International Land Port and Fully Promoting High Level Opening and High Quality Development”. It is clear that “exerting the efforts of the whole city to accelerate the construction of Huaihua International Land Port and focus on building a new highland for reform and opening up in inland areas” is one of the “five new missions” strategic paths, to make “striving to build an International Land Port” one of the strategic goals of the “four orientations”. It is a must to scientifically formulate the “Overall Plan for Huaihua International Land Port”, establish city/county (district) level land port offices, and provide strong support for the high-quality development of Huaihua International Land Port.
Expansion of New Channels for Collecting Goods through Linkage among Three Provinces and Regions
Huaihua International Land Port actively improves its customs clearance and cooperation functions, strives for support for lower freight rates, promotes the consolidation of goods from provinces within and around Huaihua International Land Port, and creates a national comprehensive logistics hub with wide radiation areas, strong agglomeration effects, excellent service functions, and high operational efficiency.
On June 22, 2023, 20 TEUs and 540 tons of ammonium sulfate from Wuhan, Hubei Province arrived at Huaihua International Land Port. Under the supervision of Huaihua Customs, the goods will go south along the China-Laos Railway and finally reach Luang Prabang, Laos. The shipment of this batch of goods is the first successful exploration of the joint efforts of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces to promote the issuance of ASEAN trains.
Huaihua actively implements the agreement of the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi. Goods from Nanchang, Jiangxi, Wuhan, Hubei, and other places are gathered and shipped to ASEAN at Huaihua International Land Port.
(The first international freight train between Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces in cooperation with China-Laos Railway took a departure.)
Huaihua conducted on-site cargo source research with Wuhan, Yichang, Jingzhou, Jingmen, Jiangxi Nanchang, Yingtan, and other places in Hubei, conducted in-depth analysis of local cargo aggregation and transportation routes, and optimized and improved itself to strengthen customs clearance facilitation cooperation. The cassava starch imported from Laos by Huaihua International Land Port has been distributed to Pingxiang and other places in Jiangxi, and the cooperation prospects between Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces are very broad.
On the morning of September 15th, 2023, the first Western Land-Sea New Channel (Shaoyang-Huaihua-ASEAN) successor train was shipped from Shaoyang East Freight Yard with its whistle blaring. The first consecutive train consists of 20 TEUs, with a value of approximately 13 million RMB. The goods mainly include hair products, coatings, bamboo skewers, and other products with Shaoyang regional characteristics. The opening of the train has injected new vitality into enhancing the radiation level of Huaihua International Land Port.
Referring to the “Shaoyang Model”, Huaihua is increasing its cooperation with cities and prefectures such as Loudi and Changde, and has signed a “Five Party Agreement” with Yueyang City, planning to launch successor trains in November. Actively connecting with Changsha commercial and logistics enterprises, strategic cooperation agreements have been signed with Red Star Industry, Dahan Group, and Gaoqiao Market. Trade cooperation agreements have been signed with Red Star Agricultural Products Trading Company, and Hunan China Tobacco Logistics to jointly explore the Southeast Asian tobacco market. Together with Xiangtong Company, Hunan Modern Cold Chain Logistics Group, and Hunan Cold Chain Association, a cold chain train operation company has been established to specifically operate ASEAN tropical fruit trains. COSCO Shipping has incorporated Yueyang-Huaihua into its internal branch line, effectively linking with the Chenglingji intermodal transportation hub, and opening up a new channel for Yueyang-Huaihua to export to ASEAN.
Huaihua continues to strengthen cooperation with international freight consolidation centers both inside and outside the province, and works together with provinces (cities) such as Yunnan, Chongqing, Guangxi, and Guizhou to create a convenient land to sea passage to the Indian Ocean, promoting Hunan’s better connection with South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the surrounding Indian Ocean region, and conducting economic and trade cooperation.
Gathering “Stars” into “Chains” to Build Port Industry Clusters
In early winter, the cold air in the mountainous city of Huaihua hits people, but it is a hot wave at the construction site of the Huaihua International Land Port Economic Development Zone.
At the site of the Huaihua International Land Port Smart Cold Chain Digital Logistics Center project of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, cranes and excavators are busy. At present, the “Double Eleven” project of SF Express’s secondary distribution center has been completed and put into use. With a speed of 240,000 m³, the intelligent cold chain digital logistics center with a single cold chain warehouse and a daily processing capacity of 100,000 orders is expected to be completed in March next year.
(The construction of the Huaihua International Land Port Smart Cold Chain Digital Logistics Center project of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau is underway.)
It will leverage the core role of a commercial and service-oriented national logistics hub, promote the construction of multimodal transportation centers, and introduce leading logistics enterprises such as Pinduoduo, Prolos, and Dekun, as well as well-known pharmaceutical enterprises such as China National Pharmaceutical Holdings and Guangji Pharmaceutical to settle and operate.
(Dewei Central Kitchen, the first enterprise to enter the Huaihua International Land Port Prefabricated Vegetable Industrial Park, has officially put into operation.)
The first enterprise to enter the Huaihua International Land Port Prefabricated Vegetable Industrial Park, Dewei Central Kitchen, was officially put into operation on August 18th, marking a substantial step in the construction of the prefabricated vegetable industrial park and adding confidence to other upcoming prefabricated vegetable enterprises, injecting strong momentum into the development of the port industry.
Since the end of June, the Huaihua International Land Port Economic and Technological Development Zone has received more than 180 luggage enterprises from Shanghai, Hebei, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places to inspect and negotiate in Huaihua. 23 companies have signed contracts and settled down, with a total investment exceeding 3 billion yuan. The area of idle factory buildings that have been leased and revitalized is 190,000 square meters, and the development of the port industry with a focus on luggage and leather goods industry is promising.
Huaihua adheres to the integration of port industry and city, vigorously promotes the integrated development of Zhongfang County in Hecheng District, accelerates the development of hundreds of billions of port related industries, and steadily promotes the development of cross-border e-commerce. It has established a 5 billion yuan land port industry development fund, solidly promoted the development of port related industries, vigorously developed trade and processing with a focus on cassava, spices, and rubber, and focused on promoting the construction of luggage and leather industry parks, green food industry parks, and China Supply and Marketing—Three Rural Industry Park.
This year, the Huaihua International Land Port Economic Development Zone plans to implement 52 key projects, with an annual planned investment of 6.834 billion yuan. By the end of October, 41 projects have started construction, with a construction rate of 78.8%. 15 projects such as the Land Port Bridge and the International Land Port (Jinxi) School have been completed, with a total investment of 5.878 billion yuan, accounting for 86.01% of the annual investment plan.
Ten projects, including the Lingang Processing and Manufacturing Product Packaging and Processing Base, Zhushui Sculpture Featured Light Industry Processing Production Line, Central Kitchen, Annual Production of 50 tons of Resveratrol, Container LCL Center, Southern Comprehensive Quality Improvement, Huaihua Pharmaceutical Logistics of China National Pharmaceutical Holdings, Western New Specialty Medicine Logistics, Tiankai New Material Production and Processing Base, and Huaihua Tingbo Commercial Complex, have been completed. The Smart Cold Chain Logistics Center, Jiuzhou Tongguangji Pharmaceutical Logistics Center 9 projects such as modern logistics distribution centers have been orderly promoted.
Nowadays, Huaihua is taking on the leading role in Hunan Province’s reform and opening up, building a port layout that connects the east, west, north, south, four directions, sea, rail, land, and air transportation, and gathers commercial, logistics, capital, and information flows. It will rely on the “dual channels”, connect with the “two oceans”, and serve the “dual circulation” to fully promote the speed and efficiency of the construction of Huaihua International Land Port.
With mountain and sea meeting, Huaihua braves the wind and waves, and advances resolutely.
(Translated by Tian Xia)