HAIKOU, September 7. /TASS/. The key container port of Yangpu in the northwest of the Hainan Free Economic Zone has created opportunities for establishing transport links with cities in South China, www.hinews.cn reported.
According to the news outlet, starting this week regular deliveries will be carried out to the cities of Dongguan and Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province. Sinotrans is responsible for container shipping.
"A solid flow of goods from many enterprises is going through the port of Guangzhou, and we used this route for them additionally," said Sinotrans spokesman Pang Huawen.
He noted that in recent years, Yangpu has become a real international port for the transit of goods. In July alone, authorities launched about 20 destinations, six of which connect the Hainan port with Hong Kong, the Vietnamese metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville.
According to a port official, the creation of a large logistics hub in the northwestern part of Hainan takes into account regional development challenges, including the initiative of the Chinese government to create a transport corridor running from the north, from Russia and Mongolia, to the south, to the states Southeast and South Asia.
"In the future, we will connect Yangpu with the outside world with new logistics routes, which will accelerate the process of creating a free economic zone on the island," he explained.
By 2035, the Chinese authorities intend to turn the port city of Yangpu in the northwest of Hainan Island into a key point for distributing the flow of goods from various Chinese regions to Southeast Asia and Oceania, Europe and North America. As stated in the "Comprehensive Plan for the Formation of a New Integrated Sea and Land Corridor" of the State Committee for Development and Reform of China, the project aims to accelerate and increase the effectiveness of regional and global trade and economic projects, to provide advanced customs and logistics services.
The new zone will be a unique transboundary area. It will connect the northern regions of China bordering with Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia with the southern part of the country, providing them access to the territory of the ASEAN member-states. Due to this, and also thanks to the planned simplification of customs the administrative-territorial units of China with a relatively low gross regional product, for example, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, will be involved in global trade.