(Huaihua International Land Port)
(Huaihua Daily Omnimedia) On December 29, the reporter learned from Huaihua Bureau of Commerce that since the beginning of the year, Huaihua has, in line with the “three highlands and four new missions” vision, thoroughly implemented the “five new missions and four orientations” strategy. By developing the major channel, building the big platform and facilitating extensive exchanges, the city has achieved good results in building open economy, thereby injecting great momentum into high-quality development.
Huaihua, with a focus on the development of its international land port, makes every effort to build the only ASEAN freight assembly center in Hunan Province. Since the construction started in September 2021, Huaihua International Land Port has been in full swing and witnessed remarkable progress year after year. It has successively opened four major channels for international logistics, namely the Beibu Gulf major channel for sea-rail intermodal transport and the China-Laos, China-Vietnam and China-Myanmar major channels; launched 77 transportation routes, both domestic and international; and opened four major ports, namely the Beibu Gulf Port, Guangzhou Port, Yantian Port and Zhanjiang Port. It has maintained smooth internal connection and external connection to 86 countries and regions, including ASEAN, Europe and the US. Specifically, goods from 12 provinces and nine cities and regions in Hunan Province were collected and distributed there, and 70% of goods from the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor were transported southward to ASEAN by way of Huaihua. As of the end of November, Huaihua International Land Port operated 428 trains throughout 2023 (including 25 trucks), a year-on-year increase of 237%. The land port ranked first in central China and led the country in terms of the number of trains running on the China-Laos Railway.
Huaihua, relying on its advantageous MICE industry, does its utmost to develop the important functional platform for the opening up of Hunan Province. The city successfully held the first Hunan (Huaihua) RCEP Economic and Trade Expo, which was attended by foreign guests from Laos, Myanmar and other four countries. During the expo, a total of 113 projects were signed, with a total investment of RMB75 billion; the on-site turnover topped RMB280 million; and the contract purchase amounted to about RMB810 million. Huaihua has thereby become an important platform and window for Hunan Province to integrate into RCEP. The Organizing Committee of China Conference & Exhibition Industry Innovation and Development Conference and No. 1 Conference & Exhibition granted the honorary titles of “Star in Chinese Conference & Exhibition Industry: Most Innovative Exhibition in China” to the expo and “Outstanding Conference & Exhibition City in China” to Huaihua.
Huaihua maintains close economic and trade cooperation to develop the strategic node in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative in Hunan. The city sent delegates to visit Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar for economic and trade exchanges, aligned itself with the province-wide “Longping Countryside” international agricultural cooperation program, and encouraged enterprises to establish joint ventures in Laos. At present, the cultivation of 100 hectares of multi-seasonal rice has started. The city co-hosted the Hunan Equipment and Manufacturing ASEAN (Laos) Investment Expo in Vientiane, which was attended by 39 Huaihua enterprises, 14 Laotian enterprises and over 100 buyers. The expo offered an insight into Hunan’s equipment and manufacturing industry and achieved good results. The city expanded economic and trade cooperation with Africa. It sent delegates to visit Malawi and Zimbabwe and held matchmaking conferences for economic and trade exchanges and project matchmaking events. It organized and participated in the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, during which it received delegates from Malawi and Zimbabwe. The Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Malawi visited Huaihua for inspection and signed the memorandum of cooperation with Huaihua in Changsha. Local enterprises have also moved faster to “go global”. For example, Hengguang Technology in Hongjiang District, Zhantong Communications in Jingzhou, Vanguard Group in Chenxi County and other enterprises have actively invested in and engaged in project contracting in ASEAN countries.
According to Huaihua Bureau of Commerce, from January to November 2023, Huaihua’s total foreign trade import and export volume registered RMB9.36 billion, up 124.2% compared with the previous year, ranking first in the province for 18 months straight in terms of growth rate. Foreign capital of USD61.18 million was utilized, ranking fourth in the province, and the year-on-year increase recorded 422.46%, ranking second in the province. Domestic funds of RMB68,998 million were obtained from outside the province, up 18.97% compared with the previous year. 28 enterprise projects of the three types of top 500 enterprises were introduced, with a total investment of RMB40,587 million. Specifically, NWY Group and Risen Energy Co., Ltd. invested in Hunan for the first time. They were the only two enterprises among the three types of top 500 enterprises to do so.
(Translated by Yu Jie)