Along the Yangtze River: River ports connect the ocean and the land

World
Europe

01:49

The Yangtze River is a major water route that connects China's east coast with its western areas. Our reporter Ning Hong took a trip along the Yangtze, and found ports in Chongqing are hoping to play a bigger role in this lifeline in the future.

In Guoyuan port, goods are arriving from downstream. This is the largest inland port in west China. The cost of transporting cargo this far inland was greatly reduced by combining water and railway transport at this spot.

CHEN TONGFENG, MANAGER SUPPLY CHAIN SECTION, COSCO CHONGQING "Now we are replacing road with railway transportation. It could cut costs for our customers by two-thirds."

Major ports in Chongqing have developed their cargo handling capacity, and are now seeing a 10 percent rise in traffic.

NING HONG CHONGQING "Located 2400 kilometers away from the sea, this port is striving to become a major transportation hub in west China. Especially for cargo shipped here like these. They could be loaded on a train here and then head straight to Europe."

A railway connecting Chongqing with Europe was opened at the end of 2017, as part of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative. In the first half of this year, Chongqing has seen over 300 trains heading to Europe.

WANG ZHIYU, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER GUO YUAN PORT, CHONGQING "We can provide very efficient transfers between water and railway routes, with a capacity of 30 million tons every year."

As China continues to promote the Belt and Road, such combinations of the Yangtze River and the railway system will help more businesses reduce their international transportation costs. Ning Hong, CGTN, Chongqing.