Sino-Russia Food Corridor: Russian soybeans headed to northeastern China

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Europe

03:12

A Sino-Russia Food Corridor has been opened in a free trade zone in the northeastern Chinese city of Yingkou. Soybeans are the main product importers aim to move through the corridor as trade tensions with the United States continue. Xu Xinchen filed this report from Yingkou.

By the end of August, the first batch of trains carrying Russian soybeans is expected to arrive in the Northeastern Chinese city of Yingkou. And that batch would be the first order through a recently established Sino-Russia Food Corridor.

YANG HAIQING, CHAIRMAN CHINA EUROPE INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY "The current international trade situation is merely coincidental, we've been working on this corridor for a long time."

Yang Haiqing is the chairman of China Europe Innovation Technology — the company responsible for the new thoroughfare. He said as the country looks to replace American soybeans amid the current trade tension, Russian ones are a viable alternative.

YANG HAIQING, CHAIRMAN CHINA EUROPE INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY "The market has been positive about Russian soybeans. They are grown without chemical fertilizer, and are not genetically modified, which means they are safer to eat."

XU XINCHEN YINGKOU The Sino-Russia Food Corridor aims to boost its import volume of Russian crops like soybeans and corn to 2 million tons in the first year. But their goal doesn't stop there. They hope to eventually bring in 20 million tons a year! By comparison, China imported over 30 million tons of American soybeans in 2017 — meeting about one third of the nation's total demand for soybean imports.

With such a large volume expected in the future, Yingkou's Free Trade Zone - where the corridor operates - has high hopes for the project as a part of China's opening up. Zhang Dong, Yingkou City Government's Deputy Secretary-General, also oversees the free trade zone.

ZHANG DONG, DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL YINGKOU MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT "We want to use this food co-op project to boost other cooperation between the two countries — such as investment, trade and financial areas."

If the corridor operates smoothly, Yingkou city could soon see container after container of Russian crops arriving.

YUAN ZHENHE, VICE GM LIAONING SHEN-HA & HONGYUN RAILWAY LOGISTICS "This 20-foot container can hold about 20 tons of Russian soybeans or corn."

That means each cargo train can bring in about 2,000 tons of Russian crops. Liaoning Shen-Ha & Hongyun is the logistics provider for the corridor, however, the company sees a few obstacles looking ahead.

YUAN ZHENHE, VICE GM LIAONING SHEN-HA & HONGYUN RAILWAY LOGISTICS "The corridor's planned volume is huge and the entire logistics chain is also very long. Coordination and transporting capacity can be challenging at some points."

Nevertheless, the corridor could contribute as much as 10 billion US dollars to Sino-Russian trade once it reaches its 20-million-ton annual capacity. And in addition to meeting domestic demand, many hope to eventually trade incoming crop volume with Japan and South Korea as well. Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Yingkou, Liaoning Province.