On September 7, 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the initiative to jointly build the " Silk Road Economic Belt " in Kazakhstan. On October 3, an initiative to jointly build the 21st century " Maritime Silk Road " was proposed in Indonesia. Together, they constitute a major initiative of the "Belt and Road". This is a major strategic decision made by General Secretary Xi Jinping with a focus on the general trend of the times and coordinated the domestic and international situations.
promotes reform and development through opening up, which is an important magic weapon for the modernization of socialism with Chinese characteristics. For Hunan Province in inland, it is particularly eager to deeply integrate into international economic cooperation. In 1980, Chenglingji Port was approved by the State Council as one of the eight earliest ports to open to the outside world along the Yangtze River . In 1997, General Administration of Customs was listed as the only national water first-class port in Hunan Province. At 11:00 on May 31, 1997, the "Changyuan" foreign ship from the Chenglingji Port Foreign Trade Terminal was loaded with cargo and directly flew to Nagoya Port, Japan. This was the first landmark event in which the port opened a water logistics channel to the world.
In 1997, the Hondurasian foreign ship "Changyuan" took direct flights from Seongriji Port to Nagoya Port in Japan, which was the first direct flight to the world.
Chenglingji , as the "first portal of Hunan's opening up to the outside world", has the inherent advantages of the golden waterway, but "learning to walk" on the road of open economy is relatively late.
2005~2016, the average annual growth rate of Yueyang import and export volume and foreign capital utilization ranked behind cities such as Yichang , Jiujiang and Wuhu in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Compared with prefecture-level cities in the province, by 2016, the import and export volume ranked 6th in the province, lagging behind Changsha, Chenzhou , Hengyang , Xiangtan , Zhuzhou and other cities. Yueyang's foreign trade dependency is lower than the provincial level, and the utilization of foreign capital is only ranked 8th in the province, which is far from the status of the second largest economic city in the province. (Data source: "Study on the Development of Yueyang's Open Economic" by the Party School of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China)
Historical turning point occurred in 2009. In February of this year, the State Council approved the inclusion of Chenglingji in the scope of the "two-type" social construction lakeside demonstration zone. In December of this year, the provincial party committee and government decided to establish the Chenglingji Port Industrial New District based on Chenglingji Port and existing industries along the river (in 2015, it was renamed Chenglingji New Port District). The provincial party committee and the provincial government proposed to "mobilize the whole province's efforts to build Chenglingji New Port District into an important hub for the province's comprehensive transportation system, an important park for modern logistics, and an important portal for an open economy."
openness is the "magic medicine" to promote development. In August 2016, Yueyang Chenglingji Comprehensive Bonded Zone was completed and closed for operation. The closure of the city was signed for 128 projects entering the district in 5 months, completing an import and export trade volume of US$1 billion, becoming the comprehensive bonded zone with the largest increase in import and export trade and the fastest project implementation speed in the province. Together with the export tax rebate port, the designated port for importing whole vehicles, the designated port for imported meat, the designated port for imported grain, and the designated port for imported fruits, it has become a national-level open platform in the Xingang District.
Yueyang Chenglingji Comprehensive Bonded Zone Exterior View.
This year, Yueyang's open economic indicators "turned red" across the board, higher than the national and provincial average, and the total ranking rose from 7th in the province to 2nd, and changed from "following" to "leading". Yueyang City has been among the top 100 foreign trade cities in the country for five consecutive years.
This year, the container throughput of Chenglingji Port increased from 230,000 TEUs to 290,000 TEUs. By 2022, the Party Working Committee of the Xingang District proposed the goal of "Chenglingji Port exceeds one million TEUs throughout the year and builds a hub port." Xingang District is gradually establishing its strategic position as "the main battlefield for Yueyang's economic construction and a bridgehead for opening up to the outside world."
The purpose of establishing a comprehensive bonded zone is mainly to improve the investment environment and maximize the utilization of foreign capital and technology introduction. In 2018, the largest investment Taiwanese company in the province (Xinjinbao Yueyang Factory) invested in Yueyang Chenglingji Comprehensive Bonded Zone, which gave Yueyang a "intersection" with the electronic information industry for the first time. Since then, the electronic information industry chain projects have gathered together and become a strong support for Yueyang to build a 100 billion electronic information industry.Yueyang's import and export trade has joined, making the "foreign trade plate" of Xingang District bigger and bigger. By 2020, the import and export volume of Xingang District will reach RMB 37.1 billion. The construction of the free trade zone has enabled Yueyang to move from inland to the forefront of opening up.
In September 2020, the Yueyang area of the China (Hunan) Free Trade Pilot Zone was unveiled. National strategic dividends such as the "Belt and Road", the rise of the central region, and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the opening potential energy gathered by free trade zones, comprehensive bonded zones, cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, make the opening up of Xingang District take bigger and bigger steps.
The approval of Hunan Free Trade Pilot Zone is a milestone event in the province's opening up to the outside world since the 40 years of reform and opening up. If the comprehensive bonded zone is the early form of free trade zone . Free trade zones are the highest level of openness in the world today. As an inland province and city, Hunan and Yueyang have finally stood at the forefront of opening up to the outside world.
Today's Xingang District has become an important support point for Hunan Province to implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's strategic positioning on the "Belt and Road" and a bridgehead for Hunan to integrate into the "Belt and Road". In 2022, the import and export volume of Xingang District is expected to reach 59.2 billion yuan, the dependence on foreign trade is getting higher and higher, and the number of foreign-invested enterprises has significantly exceeded. Open economy , together with modern logistics and innovation and upgrading, has formed a three-legged advantageous industrial sector in Xingang District, playing a decisive role in the optimization and reconstruction of the city's industrial structure.
