Open the map of China, here is deep inland, neither coastal nor border. But here is China's inland river water, railway and public transport logistics hub port, and it is also an important shipping hub connecting the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Belt and Road Initiative. Here is Chongqing Orchard Port. Travel across the mountains and rivers to find new momentum for the rise. In the construction of the twin-city economic circle in the Chengdu-Chongqing area, Chongqing Liangjiang New District is taking on the heavy responsibility, focusing on the Orchard Port in Liangjiang New District, and let’s take a look at the story of the butterfly change in this world transfer station.

The Silk Road and the Yangtze River meet here, and new industries, new economies, and new formats are integrated here. Wang Tingting, an associate professor at the School of Economics and Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law and a researcher at the China Institute of Finance, Taxation and Law, believes that if the Liangjiang New Area is a new landmark of inland reform and opening up, then Orchard Port is a transit point for the world. From here to the east, it connects to the Pacific Ocean through the golden waterway of the Yangtze River; to the west, through the Lanzhou-Chongqing Railway, it can reach Central Asia and Europe through the China-Europe Railway; to the south, it can reach ASEAN and South Asia through the Western New Land-Sea Corridor. Relying on the powerful radiation driving force, Chongqing Orchard Port has become the only port-type national logistics hub in the western region, which has made a wonderful contribution to the inland opening of the Liangjiang New Area.

Water-Railway Multimodal Transport

Connecting Chengdu and Chongqing to connect the world

It is understood that Orchard Port is located in the core area of Chongqing Liangjiang New District, China (Chongqing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and China-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Interconnection Demonstration Project. Channel advantage. Today, it has become the only port-type national logistics hub in the western region, realizing the four-way connection between east, west, north, south, and four-way combined transportation of iron, water, public and air, and is gradually growing into a transfer station in the world.

Xu Wenjun, Director of the Production Department of Chongqing Orchard Container Terminal Co., Ltd. pointed out that with the continuous improvement of port-type national logistics hub functions, Orchard Port is in the national strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the new round of Western Development, and the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. The important role played is also becoming more and more obvious. Relying on a smart port, Chongqing Orchard Port is gradually moving towards the world transit station around the multimodal transport of railway, highway and water: to the east, through the golden waterway of the Yangtze River to connect the port city clusters in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and then to the Asia-Pacific region via the Pacific Ocean; to the west It can directly connect to the China Railway Express (Chongqing), facing Northwest China, Central Asia, and Europe; directly connecting to the south of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Interconnection Project Southbound Channel, facing the southern coast of China, ASEAN, and South Asia; connecting to the north Yu-Man-Russia International Railway.

The four-way combined transport of water, rail, public and air connects goods all over the world; four-way passages from east to west, north, south, and direct access to the world. Orchard Port, carrying Chongqing's new name card, will also become a transit point for the world by virtue of its strong radiation and driving force. Data show that in the first quarter of 2022, Orchard Port completed a container throughput of 198,793 TEUs, an increase of 275% over the same period in 2016, including 112,897 TEUs for domestic trade, an increase of 118.5%, and 85,896 TEUs for foreign trade, an increase of 6262.7%. Today, this port deep in the hinterland has become the frontier of opening up.

At present, the container water-to-water transfer public feeder line jointly launched by Orchard Port, Yibin Port, Luzhou Port and feeder shipping companies has achieved normal and stable operation every day; at the same time, new Guang'an, Guangyuan to Orchard Port water-to-water transfer container routes have been added. Relying on the increasingly mature multimodal transport system, Orchard Port is increasingly becoming an important window for internal transportation and outward radiation between Sichuan and Chongqing. Xu Wenjun said that from the inland hinterland to the frontier of opening up, the opening of the new land-sea channel and the promotion of the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle have brought the distance between western China and the world closer. The Orchard Port, which connects the east to the west and connects the north and the south, plays an important role in this business card.

At the same time, the agglomeration of port functions makes the channel function of Orchard Port more apparent, and also promotes the rapid development of the port. Orchard Port has changed a lot in the past 6 years. Xiao Jinyong, deputy general manager of Chongqing Orchard Port Co., Ltd., pointed out that when the General Secretary visited in 2016, Orchard Port was just an ordinary domestic trade port inland, and most of the goods were coal mines and steel products. Nowadays, a variety of goods are blooming, and Orchard Port, as the largest inland river hub port in China, frequently appears on the map of international and domestic trade.

On May 23, 2022, with the siren roaring, a China-Myanmar new channel Chongqing-Lincang-Myanmar International Railway train loaded with 60 TEUs of mechanical equipment, electronic accessories, automobile and motorcycle accessories, etc., departed from Orchard Port National The Yuzui Railway Freight Station in the logistics hub area slowly pulled out. The train leaves the country through the Lincang port in Yunnan, and finally arrives in Mandalay, Myanmar through rail and road combined transportation. The transportation takes 15 days. Relying on the new China-Myanmar channel, goods exported from Chongqing and its surrounding areas can be connected to countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia through the seaport of Myanmar, greatly shortening the transportation distance and time. According to estimates, the logistics time between Chongqing and Myanmar can be saved by 20 days compared with the traditional route, and the logistics cost can be reduced by 20%.

With the sound of the train whistle, electronic products and clothing produced in Southeast Asia by South Korea’s Samsung, France’s Decathlon and other foreign companies were first shipped from Vietnam to Chongqing, and they are taking the China-Europe Express (Chengdu) to Europe. ASEAN and Europe have new encounters in Orchard Port and compose a new development concerto.

The Western New Land-Sea Corridor (Orchard Port) train is also one of the most convenient channels to reach the ASEAN region. Through the Western Land-Sea New Corridor (Orchard Port) train, the export of goods from Chongqing to ASEAN has been reduced from more than 20 days before to within 10 days now. , in Orchard Port, the supply of goods from the Western New Land-Sea Corridor has accounted for about 50%.

Not far away, the ferrochrome from Jiuquan, Gansu Province will arrive at Orchard Port by rail, and will take the Western Land-Sea New Corridor train to the south, and finally arrive in Southeast Asia; the phosphate ore transshipped from Luzhou Port will also be scattered and collected at Orchard Port, and then shipped to other countries. region; Chongqing's mechanical and electrical equipment, automobiles and other products can also be transported to the eastern port through the golden waterway of the Yangtze River... In the bright spring sun, the entire port area is full of enthusiasm and vitality.

At the same time, Orchard Port has increased the depth and breadth of cooperation with international ports such as Duisburg Port in Germany and Yangon Port in Myanmar, and opened up new international liner lines to connect with national strategic layouts such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Strengthen international cooperation and go through the international cycle. Strengthen the domestic Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Hub and the construction of rail-water combined transport in ports along the Yangtze River, build a collection and distribution system covering hinterland ports such as the southwest and radiating northwest regions, and serve the domestic cycle. The capacity and quality of the open channels have been expanded, so that the Liangjiang New Area, which is not close to the sea or the border, has accelerated its opening up, and the inland has become a frontier. The level of external interconnection has been greatly improved, and the construction of the inland opening door of the Liangjiang New Area has been accelerated.

Not only that, European cars and milk powder arrive at Orchard Port by China-Europe Railway Express, and can go down the Yangtze River; Southeast Asian clothing and leather shoes are transported back to Chongqing through the New Land-Sea Corridor, and can be transferred to Shanghai or Europe... The continuous development of air-to-air multimodal transport has made the four-way logistics channel more and more smooth, making this inland port a transit point for the world. Sun Xiaochi, Director of the Information Department of Chongqing Orchard Container Terminal Co., Ltd., introduced that the Orchard Port National Logistics Hub is fully playing its role in leading and driving opening up, serving the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and the further development of the western region. good.

Help Anhui goods to connect rivers and seas

A piece of lake water enters the port with the wind, and there is a lot of traffic in Hefei Port. Hefei Port is located in the Yinghe operation area on the right bank of the Nanfei River in Baohe District, Hefei City. It is the most important international container port in central Anhui and northwestern Anhui. , Fuyang, Henan Zhoukou, Xinyang, Luohe and other regions have important location advantages connecting the east to the west, connecting the Central Plains, and connecting the north and the south. It is also the largest inland container port on the tributary channel of the Yangtze River.

The waterway of Hefei Port leads to the river and the sea via the Heyu Line Channel, with a total length of 132 kilometers and a water depth of 3.5 to 4.5 meters throughout the year, meeting the standard of a secondary channel. Hefei Port has now opened liner routes to Wuhu, Nanjing, Shanghai and other ports. Among them, the Hefei direct flight opened in June 2021 has greatly improved the company's transit efficiency and reduced transportation costs. It has become a key import and export enterprise in Hefei. important logistics channel. The daily density of Hefei Port is 10 to 15 voyages. Through transit, the routes basically cover all the basic shipping ports in the world, and the goods can reach major ports in China and the world.

It is understood that Hefei Port has customized a direct flight channel from Hefei to Shanghai, making every effort to ensure the smooth flow of foreign logistics for enterprises, effectively reducing logistics costs for enterprises, enabling local foreign trade enterprises in Hefei to seamlessly connect with enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta, and effectively promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. . The direct flight channel is to ensure that the raw materials and products of key import and export enterprises in Hefei can enter and exit. Wang Peng, deputy general manager of Hefei Port, said that not only that, in 2022 Hefei Port and Shanghai Port reached an agreement on the front of empty containers. Hefei Port can give priority to transporting empty containers from Shanghai Port to Hefei Port for storage for local priorities. Import and export enterprises will dispatch and transport more than 1,000 TEUs in the first half of 2022 alone, effectively alleviating the shortage of empty container resources and meeting customers' demand for empty containers.

With the launch of the smart 5G project, it marks that Hefei Port will officially enter the smart port. Wang Peng said that after the launch of the smart 5G project, the port can realize a series of actions such as grabbing, walking, and dropping boxes on its own. Compared with manual operations, the safety is greatly improved, the operating efficiency is improved, and the operating cost is reduced.

Hefei Port will also improve the logistics efficiency and customs clearance efficiency of import and export enterprises in Hefei and surrounding areas, promote the accelerated development of open modern logistics industry and related industries, and then continuously improve port functions, accelerate the planning and construction of port economic zones, and open Hefei Port as soon as possible. A large-scale inland shipping hub has become an important support platform for Anhui Province to build a new inland open highland, making new contributions to the construction of a beautiful Anhui.

The first smart port in the domestic inland river

With the successful application of autonomous driving technology, in October 2022, Hefei Port will enter the stage of unmanned automation and begin to lead a new round of wharf revolution in inland river ports across the country. After the terminal operating system issues instructions, the unmanned container handling vehicle will automatically go to the designated position on the side of the ship, wait for the crane to put the container on the vehicle, and then go to the storage yard and stack it into stacks... This cycle goes on and on, and the whole process is completed in one go. Actions such as turning and parking are smooth and natural, and all are intelligently controlled by the operating system. According to Liang Youjun, director of the equipment department of Anhui Port Group Hefei Co., Ltd., this trial operation marks that Hefei Port has become the first unmanned smart port in the domestic inland river.

With the development of science and technology, in recent years, a small number of coastal ports have accelerated the pace of transformation and upgrading, and introduced unmanned driving technology, but most of them use magnetic nails buried in the ground to sense the location, which requires high investment costs and long construction periods.

Compared with the past, unmanned container handling vehicles do not need to rely on magnetic nail induction identification, the driving path is more flexible and changeable, and the positioning is more accurate. It is also an important symbol of the transformation of the port from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, to improve the comprehensive operation efficiency and service ability of the port more effectively, and to realize the intelligentization and informatization of port production.

Utilizing new technologies such as 5G communication technology, Internet of Things technology, artificial intelligence, and big data, Hefei Port is currently accelerating the pace of upgrading and transformation of port freight yards and quay cranes to be intelligent and automated. It is expected that the overall delivery operation will be completed in the first half of 2023. There are 15 unmanned container handling vehicles to help Hefei Port move towards an unmanned port. In the future, the smart Hefei Port will open up new space for more foreign trade enterprises to cross borders and embrace the world. Editor/He Yuting