Deep ploughing "Belt and Road Initiative" leaps to the "opening Frontier" small Coffee beans tell the New Story of Chongqing

"create a service platform for the coffee industry with global influence." This is the goal set by Chongqing Coffee Trading Center. Yunnan Hougu Coffee and Chongqing Energy Investment Group jointly established the Chongqing Coffee Trading Center in June 2016. in just nine months, the center has accumulated 5.268 billion yuan in spot transactions, making it the largest spot trading platform for coffee in China.

It sounds strange that Chongqing, a mountain city located in the hinterland of the mainland, which is not near the sea or produces a single coffee bean, wants to make its voice heard in the global coffee industry. Behind the small coffee beans, there is a big move that Chongqing ploughs "Belt and Road Initiative" and gradually leaps up the "opening frontier".

"Yu Xin Europe" sets up a new high point of inland opening up

With the coffee industry from scratch, Chongqing has firmly seized the opportunity of the construction of the national "Belt and Road Initiative" and made full use of the advantages and convenience of the "Chongqing New Europe" channel.

Workers are working at the starting station of the "Chongqing New Europe" international trade corridor on April 11. (photo by people's Daily online Fu Changchao)

"with Chongqing as the core, through the 'Yuxin Europe' international railway transport corridor and the golden waterway of the Yangtze River, Yunnan, Southeast Asia, South Asia and other major coffee producing areas in Asia are closely connected with the European consumer market, and become an important distribution center of coffee logistics, and form radiation and agglomeration to the global coffee industry." Feng Yue, chairman and secretary of the party committee of Chongqing Energy Investment Group, said that "Belt and Road Initiative" has given Chongqing the advantage of opening up, so that Chongqing can give full play to its role in logistics and economic support to the coffee trading center.

The transportation time of "Yuxin Europe" is short and the cost is low. The whole passage takes only 12 days, which is more than 20 days shorter than that of sea transportation. From Chongqing to Duisburg, Germany, the "Chongqing New Europe" international train has crossed Europe and Asia to become a new economic artery. As of April 11, 2017, "Chongqing New Europe" has opened 1075 classes, which is the most numerous and frequent train in Central Europe.

In the process of construction and development, "Yuxin Europe" continues to innovate in system, mechanism and technology. Yang Liqiong, deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal Economic and Information Technology Commission, said that in order to ensure the seamless convergence of goods in any country, Chongqing and the railway departments of various countries along the route have jointly set up a transport company with capital as a link. make the railway departments of the countries along the route become shareholders, share interests, separate responsibilities and powers, and be responsible for the whole line of goods.

"We have developed an electronic lock. This electronic lock not only has the function of GPS, but also has the safety function of alarm, "says Yang Liqiong." as long as the goods in the container deviate from the track at a certain distance, it will call the police, and the control tower will receive the alarm. " At present, this kind of electronic lock has realized the whole process safety monitoring of Yu Xinou train electronic products.

Up to now, with the continuous improvement of service quality, more and more goods choose to take the "Yuxin Europe" train for import and export. The supply of "Yuxin Europe" has also expanded from the initial IT products such as computer accessories to complete vehicles and spare parts, machinery, coffee beans, handicrafts, clothing, shoes and hats, and other categories, realizing the transformation from a single category to a multi-category source. In 2016, Chongqing and New Europe realized the transportation value of 14.5 billion yuan, and its economic driving role is increasing day by day.

"Air Railway Water Gong" to create a new pattern of interconnection

Constantly improving the function of the "Chongqing New Europe" channel is just a microcosm of Chongqing's active integration into the construction of "Belt and Road Initiative" and exploring the opening up of inland areas.

In recent years, Chongqing has complied with the trend and vigorously promoted regional development to be fully integrated into the construction of "Belt and Road Initiative", forming a "three-in-one" opening pattern of three water, land and air transportation hubs, three national first-class ports, and three bonded areas. is gradually leaping from the "inland hinterland" to the "opening frontier".

Cargo ships on the golden waterway of the Yangtze River pass through Chongqing Orchard Port on April 12. (photo by people's Daily online Fu Changchao)

"in recent years, Belt and Road Initiative has made my business much easier, and the cost of my coal trade has dropped by 6-8 yuan per ton." Yang Gang, who has been in the coal business for 10 years, moved most of his business here when Orchard Port was first built in 2015. He took a fancy to the location advantages and services of Orchard Port.

"Orchard Port is a familiar road. My coal is transported from Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Guizhou and other places, concentrated here for transshipment, and then dispersed to more than 10 manufacturers along the Yangtze River." Today, the annual trade volume of Yang Gang's coal business is more than 1 million tons, and he is going to concentrate all of it on transit to Orchard Port.

The Orchard Port mentioned by Yang Gang, located in Liangjiang New District of Chongqing, is the largest "Tiegongshui" multimodal transport hub in the country. The person in charge of the port said that connecting "Belt and Road Initiative" with the Yangtze River economic belt, Orchard Port can not only radiate Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and its surrounding areas, but also become a collection and distribution base for materials from northwest and southwest of China to the south and east of the Yangtze River. Through the seamless connection with the Chongqing-Xinzhou-European Railway Corridor, materials and products from Europe and Central Asia are sent to the eastern coast of China and East Asia through the Orchard Port. Compared with sea transportation, it can not only greatly shorten the transportation time but also reduce the logistics cost. At the same time, bulk goods from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River can also enter the "Chongqing New Europe" railway transport system through Orchard Port and flow to Central Asia and Europe.

In recent years, through active integration into the construction of "Belt and Road Initiative", Orchard Port has achieved a seamless connection between the "Chongqing New Europe" international railway and the golden waterway of the Yangtze River, and the trade volume has been expanding. From 2014 to 206, the volume of domestic trade cases increased from more than 40, 000 TEU to more than 200, 000 TEU, and foreign trade goods increased from 42500 tons to nearly 100000 tons. In 2016, water transfer and hot metal transport in Orchard Port increased by 22% and 90% respectively; loading and unloading natural tons increased by 144.7% over the same period last year; and cargo throughput increased by 33.6% over the same period last year.

According to Chongqing's overall deployment of the free trade zone, Liangjiang New area will apply for the opening up of the Orchard Port, set up designated ports for imported meat, fruit, grain and seedlings, build a comprehensive open port that integrates containers, car ro-ro and bulk cargo, and improve the bonded logistics function of the Orchard Port to form a comprehensive multimodal transport hub with the port as the node and seamlessly connecting aviation, railway, highway and waterway. Through the "Chongqing New Europe" international railway, the golden waterway of the Yangtze River, and the cross-border logistics channel of ASEAN land transportation, to achieve more comprehensive interconnection.

"Open platform" promotes the new development of cross-border trade

Pay close attention to the policy dividend brought by "Belt and Road Initiative", as well as the new economic trend of industrial transformation and consumption upgrading, which makes many enterprises aim at this.

German Life Pavilion located in Chongqing bonded Commodities Exhibition and Trading Center (people's Daily online, photo by Fu Changchao)

Multi-functional appliances from Germany, health products originally from Australia, elegant shirts from Italy, high-end bird's nests from Malaysia. In Chongqing bonded Commodities Exhibition and Exchange Center, special goods from many countries around the world are displayed and sold.

"my job is mainly to import red wine, bags and clothing from Italy, hoping to serve consumers in Chongqing and even the whole of China." In the Italian Pavilion, Nikolai, a businessman from Tuscany, believes that Chongqing is located in an important position of "Belt and Road Initiative" and has a good policy and business environment.

"in the process of implementing 'Belt and Road Initiative', many policies have been really implemented, making freight transportation fast, safe and convenient, and reducing the pressure on enterprises to occupy funds." Nikolai thanked Belt and Road Initiative for the opportunity he had brought.

The person in charge of Chongqing bonded Port area said that the center is gradually becoming an important display platform for Chongqing to seize "Belt and Road Initiative" and promote international trade. The advantages of commodity utilization policy, logistics and customs clearance in the trading center can reduce the price of goods.

It is understood that all commodities in the trading center are under the supervision of Chongqing Customs and the entry-exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Chongqing Cuntan bonded Port, and can protect the source of goods through customs declaration and commodity inspection through formal channels. At present, more than 30,000 kinds of goods have been displayed and traded in the exhibition hall, and the places of origin of goods have been more than 40 countries and regions, realizing "zero distance" global purchase.

Parallel imported cars is another bright spot in Chongqing's foreign trade development. Thanks to the geographical advantages of the airport and waterport in Chongqing's bonded port area, especially the continuous building of trade function facilitation, Chongqing has successfully attracted a number of imported automobile enterprises to settle down. In the huge automobile exhibition hall of the bonded Port Trading Center, the world-famous imported brands are collectively unveiled, and there is also a certain discount on the price.

Zhu Fuxing, co-founder of Dalong Network, has personal experience of the trade facilitation brought about by "Belt and Road Initiative". In the past two years, his number of business trips to countries along the Silk Road has increased significantly. "We actively integrate into Belt and Road Initiative, seize the new opportunities to promote cross-border exports, focus on export enterprises to explore new overseas markets, integrate global resources, and make Chinese manufacturing directly connect with overseas and local channels." Zhu Fuxing said that Dalong has set up Chinese brand sample experience centers in many countries along the route.

From offline bonded commodity trading to online cross-border e-commerce, with the open function of the bonded port area as the core, Chongqing has made every effort to build a service trade chain and policy system, and constantly expand the function of the open platform. make full use of the development dividends and preferential policies of "Belt and Road Initiative" and the Yangtze River Economic Belt to promote the development of enterprises, and achieved remarkable results. In 2016, there were 560 newly introduced enterprises in Chongqing bonded Port area, with a total volume of more than 1500, realizing imports and exports of 73.2 billion yuan, accounting for about 18 percent of the city's total; and bonded trade volume of 2.2 billion US dollars, an increase of about 6 percent over the same period last year.

Only reformers advance, only innovators are strong. Today, paying close attention to the construction of "Belt and Road Initiative" and the new inland opening capacity provided by the development of the Yangtze River economic belt, Chongqing is taking advantage of the situation and is gradually leaping from the "inland hinterland" to the "opening frontier".