September 15, 2022, The Silk Road is an important hub city for Samarkand . President Xi Jinping held talks with Uzbekistan President Mirziyoev stressed that China is willing to work with Uzbekistan to improve the construction of the Eurasian transport channel and promote the early start of construction of the China-Jiji-Ukraine Railway.
On this day, Sichuan's first "road-rail transport" international train from China-Jijibouti to Uzbekistan was sailing from Chengdu, carrying 20 containers of Chinese-made tea to Uzbekistan. This is another open door that Chengdu has opened in international exchanges and cooperation.
is open and is a distinctive symbol of contemporary China. Over the past decade, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly reiterated that China's determination to expand high-level opening up will not change, and China's door to opening up will only open wider and wider. In February 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping instructed Chengdu during his inspection tour: "Strive to create a new growth pole and build an inland open economic highland."
moves from the inland hinterland to an open highland, from regional portal to international portal, from the "fourth city" of aviation to the "third city" of dual international airports, from the national central city of to the international metropolis... Over the past ten years, Chengdu has fully implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important instructions on Sichuan and Chengdu's work and the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the Provincial Party Committee. Based on the new development stage, it has fully, accurately and fully implemented the new development concept of , accurately grasped the new trend of economic globalization and the new requirements of my country's opening up to the outside world, and won the initiative of economic development and international competition with the initiative of opening up to the outside world, and strived to turn the grand blueprint drawn by the General Secretary into a beautiful reality.
↑Chengdu International Railway Port
Open door
Hand from the inland hinterland to the open highland
From more than 30 columns in 2013 to 2400 columns in 2021, the annual traffic has increased greatly. Zhong Junlan, the first driver of the Chengdu China-Europe Express, used "busy" and "prosperity" to summarize his feelings and changes over the years. On the vast Eurasian continent, the Silk Road, which once "stopped by the post station, never stopping by the time and moon", is full of vitality because of the China-Europe freight train.
High-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" not only opens up a road of opportunity for all countries to achieve common prosperity, but also opens up a new world for China's open development. More and more inland cities that are not along the border or by the sea have turned magnificently into the forefront of opening up.
On April 26, 2013, the first China-Europe freight train from Chengdu to Rhodes, Poland (formerly known as "Chengdu-Europe Express Railway") was launched. It opened the bridge across the Eurasian continent, opening the westward opening door of Chengdu to Europe, saying goodbye to the history of the export of goods that must rely on air or sea freight. The first driver of the first train was Zhong Junlan selected from more than 900 people. "The trains are running more and more every year, and the cargo is loading more and more and more." Zhong Junlan sighed in nearly ten years of driving the China-Europe freight train.
Iron camel fleet crosses plains, deserts, and Gobi, and expands the four directions of the route to continuously enrich the open channel network of the Silk Road on the land. In December 2021, the first China-Laos Railway (Chengdu-Chongqing-Vision) international freight train was launched, the first international freight train from Chengdu to South Asia countries was opened in June 2022, the first China-Jiangxi-Ukraine "High-Rail Intermodal" international freight train was shipped in September, and the first mail-free line of the Chengdu China-Europe Railway Railway was launched...
↑China-Laos Railway in the new land-sea channel (Chengdu-Chongqing-Vision) International freight train
is running stably from one-way to two-way, from customized trains to public trains, from single line to networked operation and development - Chengdu accelerates the construction of a "7+5" international railway channel and railway-sea transport channel, and consolidates and expands the international freight train network of "to Europe westward, Russia and Mongolia northward, Japan and South Korea eastward, and ASEAN southward". At present, the open channel of the land Silk Road has formed a coordinated operation pattern of multi-dimensional trains such as the China-Europe-China-Asia train, the Western Land-Sea New Channel train, and the China-Laos China-Vietnam train, connecting more than 100 cities at home and abroad.
Standing on an important node in the construction of the "Belt and Road" and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Chengdu fully utilizes its unique location advantage in serving the country's opening to the west and south.
On June 20, 2016, President Xi Jinping and Polish President Duda attended the ceremony of the first unified brand China-Europe Express (Polish ) in Warsaw, Poland. Eight cities in China depart simultaneously, and the trains departing from Chengdu arrived first. Since then, the Chengdu-Europe Express Railway has been renamed the China-Europe Express.
On May 24, 2020, the Chengdu China-Europe Express successfully shipped the first special train for epidemic prevention materials to Europe, building a "bridge of life" between China and Europe. During the epidemic, China-Europe freight trains shuttle day and night, giving full play to the advantages of train segmented transportation without involving personnel quarantine, and busy and hardworking to protect the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain.
Relying on international airports and railway port hubs, Chengdu has accelerated the construction of an international open channel with land and sea mutual assistance, four-way expansion, and comprehensive three-dimensional. The land Silk Road is accelerating its four-way expansion, while Chengdu's air Silk Road takes off with its wings, constantly narrowing its distance from the world, and playing the role of the portal hub gathering and draining.
On June 27, 2021, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport was officially put into operation. The construction of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport is a major strategic layout made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council with a focus on the overall situation, marking a solid step in Sichuan Province to build an inland open strategic highland. As the main hub of Chengdu International Aviation , Tianfu International Airport is the core airport for building a world-class airport cluster in Chengdu and Chongqing.
↑Chengdu Tianfu International Airport
Chengdu is the third city in mainland my country with dual international hub airports after Beijing and Shanghai. The coordinated operation of the "two-in-one" enhances resilience. In 2022, Chengdu has opened five new international cargo routes to New York and Liege, and the number of international cargo routes has increased to 20, consolidating and improving international air cargo capacity.
Direct flight to Oceania in 2013, Direct flight to North America in 2014, Direct flight to hamper in 2015, direct flight to Africa in 2017, and number of international (regional) routes exceeded 100 in the central and western regions. In 2018, Shuangliu Airport ranked among the world's "50 million airport club"... Over the past ten years, Chengdu has opened a total of 83 new international (regional) routes, efficiently connecting the five continents around the world, and the network of air passenger and cargo backbone routes has basically been formed. Faced with the impact of the epidemic, Chengdu continues to optimize and improve the route network structure, and the two main production indicators of flight take-off and landing volume and passenger throughput have stepped to the forefront of the national city ranking against the trend.
↑Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport
Boldly innovate
Promote High-level opening up with high-quality development
"We must boldly break through, boldly try, and independently reform, and form a batch of replicable and popularizable new systems as soon as possible." General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the construction of the free trade pilot zone and emphasizes that "the construction of a free trade pilot zone is a major measure proposed by the Party Central Committee to promote reform and opening up under the new situation."
In April 2017, as the third batch of free trade pilot zones in the country, the Sichuan Free Trade Pilot Zone was officially established, opening a new chapter of coordinated opening up inland, coastal, border and rivers. Chengdu is the main body and core of the construction of Sichuan Free Trade Pilot Zone. In the five years of establishment, it has accumulated more than 188,600 newly registered enterprises and a total of 1823.14 billion yuan of new registered capital.
was approved as a national-level airside economic demonstration zone in 2017, and by 2021, the State Council approved the Chengdu International Railway Port Economic and Technological Development Zone and Comprehensive Bonded Zone to increase to 3 agglomeration trends, and then to the unveiling of Tianfu Laboratory , the inclusion of Chengdu Supercomputing Center into the national sequence, and the increase to 216 national-level innovation platforms... In recent years, Chengdu has focused on building a strong open cooperation platform, accelerating the construction of a high-energy open platform system, creating a leading domestic business environment, and continuously enhancing the agglomeration and management capabilities of high-end factor and resource agglomeration and management.
is located in the "China-Europe Center" on Tianfu Avenue in Chengdu. It gathers more than 170 key commercial, exchange and service projects, including the United Kingdom's Weitu Asia-Pacific headquarters, Norwegian Opera China headquarters, and China-Russia one-stop service platform. This place has become a new platform for comprehensive cooperation with Europe by Chengdu and even Sichuan, and is a new window for foreign exchanges in western China.
↑China-European Center
In the Chengdu Free Trade Pilot Zone with a radius of 100 kilometers, Chengdu has been deeply engaged in the national reform and opening up test field, benchmarking the highest standards and best levels, and striving to build an inland free trade pilot zone with the characteristics of the "Belt and Road".
In the past five years, Chengdu Free Trade Pilot Zone has completed the replication and promotion of 212 reform and innovation experiences of the national free trade pilot zones across the city, and explored and formed more than 430 reform practice cases. 13 institutional innovation achievements have been adopted at the national level and replicated and promoted nationwide, and 51 institutional innovation achievements have been promoted to the whole province. Chengdu Free Trade Pilot Zone is actively exploring and innovating in the deep waters of reform and opening up, and innovation factors are constantly being activated. In the ranking of " China Free Trade Pilot Zone Institutional Innovation Index", Chengdu ranked first among the third batch of free trade pilot zone cities for many years.
On January 1, 2022, the RCEP agreement officially came into effect, and marks the official launch of , the world's largest free trade zone, . With more than 90% of the import and export of goods enjoying zero tariff policy dividends, the cost of import and export of enterprises in foreign trade has been reduced, and the level of trade facilitation has also been greatly improved. For Chengdu, driven by the action of building a circle and strengthening the chain, upstream and downstream industries such as the automobile industry, textile and clothing industry, agriculture, chemical industry, and new energy have benefited more, and enterprises are facing new development opportunities.
Thanks to the transformation and empowerment of the advantages of open platforms, the functions of open engines such as Sichuan Tianfu New District and Chengdu Hi-tech Zone have been continuously enhanced. The comprehensive strength of Sichuan Tianfu New District has entered the first echelon of national new districts. The import and export scale of Chengdu Hi-tech Comprehensive Bonded Zone has ranked first in the country in recent years.
↑ Financial City Twin Towers
Exchange and mutual learning
Advance from a regional central city to an international metropolis
With the in-depth optimization and expansion of the opening-up channel, the construction of open cooperation platforms has gathered into a trend. Chengdu's foreign investment and foreign trade energy level continues to steadily improve, and international exchanges and cooperation are becoming increasingly close, the portal hub gathers momentum and drainage role is becoming increasingly prominent, and foreign affairs resources are accelerating and transforming into open cooperation advantages.
In July 2022, the Airbus aircraft full life cycle service project started as scheduled in Chengdu. This is the only aircraft recycling project in the world operated by aircraft manufacturers. It is the first aircraft full-life cycle service project outside Europe, opening a new model of green circular economy for aircraft, filling the gaps at the end of China's aviation industry chain.
↑ Airbus aircraft full life cycle service project rendering
Previously, in March 2022, a new trade platform and new consumption scenario integrating display and trading, conferences, exhibitions, and exchanges and experiences, the "Belt and Road" Commodity Trading Exhibition Center, which officially started construction at Chengdu International Railway Port. Chengdu has been listed as a demonstration project construction city for the National China-Europe Express Assemblies Center. The trading and display center is a key supporting project for the China-Europe Express Assemblies Center.
↑ "Belt and Road" Commodity Trading Display Center Project rendering
Focusing on continuously improving the energy level of foreign investment and foreign trade, Chengdu promotes strengthening the chain of goods trade, expanding the energy of service trade, and emerging trade innovation, and builds international trade city. At the same time, deepen economic and trade cooperation with countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" and actively expand emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and South Asia. Therefore, the resilience of foreign trade development continues to increase. Over the past decade, Chengdu’s foreign trade imports and exports have more than tripled, becoming the “first foreign trade city” in western China. In 2021, the total value of imports and exports of goods in Chengdu was 822.2 billion yuan, of which 259.96 billion yuan were imported and exported to countries and regions along the "Belt and Road".
crosses the open door, and the city is increasingly closely communicating with the world: in July 2021, Chile , and in March 2022, the Spanish Consulate General in Chengdu will open one after another. In addition, Brazil , Argentina , etc. will also set up consulates in Chengdu.
Following Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Chengdu began to implement the 72-hour transit visa-free policy in 2013, making it the first city in central and western my country. It then upgraded the implementation of 44-hour transit visa-free in 2019, extending the visa-free stay time, and foreigners travel more calmly from Chengdu. In 2013, Chengdu Airlines Port took the lead in achieving "7×24-hour" reservation customs clearance in the central and western regions, and was upgraded to 7×24-hour "non-closed" customs clearance guarantee in 2019. In 2021, Chengdu's overall customs clearance time was reduced to 39.7 hours and 1.06 hours respectively.
The "Analysis Report on the Influence of Chinese Cities on Foreign Exchange (2022)" released in April 2022, 9 national central cities and 5 independent cities were selected as research objects to evaluate their influence on foreign exchanges. Because of its outstanding performance in urban diplomatic vitality and urban external display, the report believes that Chengdu is steadily becoming an inland open economic highland and an international gateway hub in the western region.
Developing the advantages of openness. Chengdu is building a "Belt and Road" foreign exchange center. Currently, Chengdu has established more than 100 international friendly cities and established economic and trade relations with 228 countries and regions around the world. The top 500 local enterprises have achieved a zero breakthrough, and the number of enterprises settled in the top 500 in the world has increased to 312. The number of enterprises and consular institutions in Chengdu ranks first in the central and western regions. In 2021, Chengdu established 713 new foreign-invested enterprises, with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increasing by 67.2%.
Practice proves that openness is the biggest variable in Chengdu's development. Chengdu is unswervingly building an international gateway hub, adhering to the guidance of integrating into the construction of the "Belt and Road" and serving the new development pattern, and creating a new highland of inland reform and opening up with a higher level of opening up, an improved institutional environment, a stronger radiation effect, and a more abundant economic vitality.
Source: Chengdu release
