A new rail route connects one of China’s biggest inland manufacturing and logistics centres with the ports of the Pearl River Delta, also known as the Greater Bay Area, but more globally typified as Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau. Launched amid much fanfare, the new scheduled service significantly cuts transit times and improves reliability and freight volumes on the established land-sea corridor.
The cooperation agreement has been signed to establish the “Chengdu-Shenzhen-Hong Kong” Rail-Sea Corridor. The complex agreement involves Hutchison-owned Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT), Chengdu International Railway Port Investment Development Company, Yantian International Container Terminals Limited (jointly operated and owned by Hutchison and the Chinese government-backed Yantian Port Group) and Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong which is collectively operated and owned by five main private terminal operators, including Hutchison, DP World and Cosco.
More stable and efficient export route
Draped in a flag proclaiming “Connecting the world across mountains and seas”, the first Chengdu-Shenzhen-Hong Kong scheduled train departed from Chengdu on 28 May, with a further strap line explaining that this was the first scheduled train service from Chengdu to Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The one thousand miles (1600km) between Chengdu and Hong Kong emphasises the logistical challenge of uniting China’s inland manufacturing bases with the eastern ports. Over such distances, the economics of rail make perfect sense. As the partners emphasise, the Chengdu–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Strategic Cooperation Agreement is the latest development of a rail-sea corridor in the Sichuan region for integration between the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
“This milestone offers Chengdu’s foreign trade enterprises a more stable and efficient export route,” said a statement from Hutchison, who have much to benefit from their port operations. “These initiatives efficiently increase cargo volumes, foster stronger economic ties, expedite the movement of inland cargo to international markets and collectively enhance the overall international competitiveness of the GBA.”
Foreign trade development
There is much of domestic significance as well. Chengdu is a metropolitan area of over twenty million people, and it is now better connected to the Pearl River Delta, a highly industrialised area with an even larger population, and a hugely significant manufacturing base in its own right – notably for high-tech electronics. According to the partners’ announcement, shippers in Chengdu gain access to over 170 international container services weekly. Kwai Tsing Container Terminals have multiple trades to Asia and South America, while Yantian Port, the only port in Shenzhen with direct rail access to the terminal area, serves as a gateway for European and American routes.
“The Kwai Tsing and Yantian ports are highly complementary in their shipping routes,” said Amy Chan, Deputy Secretary for Transport and Logistics of the Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region Government. “The launch of the ‘Chengdu–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Scheduled Train Service’ marks a new era in Hong Kong’s and Shenzhen’s efforts to promote high-quality foreign trade development. It also represents a significant milestone in fostering deeper cooperation among Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Sichuan.”
Existing rail initiatives
The new scheduled rail service should reduce transport time from Chengdu to Yantian Port from six days to two days and reaching Kwai Tsing Container Terminals within three days. That will come as a welcome boost for trade at the port, as reported by WCN earlier this year.“By forging strategic partnerships with various stakeholders, we aim to enhance trade connections and expand cargo hinterlands, building a resilient and long-term gateway for inland provinces to connect with global markets,” said Ivor Chow, Managing Director of HIT.
This is not the first rail-based freight initiative in the area. The launch of the “Shenzhen-Hong Kong Connect” last year integrated Kwai Tsing Container Terminals and Yantian Port, forming the largest port cluster in South China. HIT has also established a regular rail-sea intermodal channel with Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group, further west along the coast in the Gulf of Tonkin.