Sea-rail routes open to trade linking southwest China\'s Chongqing with Singapore

BEIJING, May 15: The first pilot freight train for new sea-rail transportation route linking southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Singapore arrived at Qinzhou Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region last week after its 48-hour journey.
The containers on the 26 rail cars will continue their journey to Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries by sea after finishing the clearance procedure.
Upon the open of Chongqing-Guangxi-Singapore international sea-rail route, the goods can arrive at their destinations over 20 days ahead compared with the previous sea transportation.
Starting from Chongqing, the line first reaches Beibu Gulf in southern Guangxi after passing through Guiyang and Naning, and then stretches south to Singapore and other parts of the world.
Complementing the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe rail link, the 4,080-kilometer-long sea-rail line provides inland provinces with access to both the Silk Road Economic Belt to their north and the 21st Maritime Silk Road to their south, and a new Eurasian land-sea corridor connecting Southeast Asia and Europe will come into being as a result.
The sea-rail link, in light of its position, will not only be an international trade corridor, but also a key part of China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiatives on Strategic Connectivity.
The papers carried by train are for domestic trade, while the motorcycles will be exported to Indonesia after arriving at Singapore at first.
It is expected that within this year, 10,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent container units) will be transported by the line, the most convenient way for Chongqing and its neighbouring Sichuan province to export their products.
Courtesy: People's Daily of China. e-mail: newssharing_pd@163.com