What business reached 4.34 trillion yuan in half a year, with a growth rate of 18.2%?Inland goods arrived directly at the dock in 20 minutes, and six Southeast Asian cargo ships docked in a single day. Exports of the "three new items" soared by 163.5%!Behind the data, how beneficial is sea-rail combined transport and zero tariffs?

China and ASEAN, which have been each other’s largest trading partners for many years, once again have outstanding foreign trade performance.In the first half of this year, my country's total import and export volume to ASEAN reached 4.34 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.2%.

Qingdao Port, the northern foreign trade hub, is the most vivid microcosm of this dazzling data: goods from inland factories take trains directly to the dock to go to sea, and durians and aquatic products from Southeast Asia take liner to quickly enter the country.Follow the reporter into the port area to see the real picture of two-way trade running at full speed under the RCEP policy dividend.

Seamless sea-rail combined transport

Inland goods can go directly to the dock to the sea in 20 minutes

At three o'clock in the afternoon, a train loaded with Jiangsu-made motorcycles entered the Qingdao Port area from Xuzhou Qingshanquan Station.

This batch of motorcycles that will be sent to Vietnam can be reached directly from the port transfer channel to the container terminal only 200 meters after getting off the train, and the fastest time to unload the motorcycles is 20 minutes.

In the dispatch room, train arrival and shipment information scrolls in real time.Wang Yifeng, deputy director of Shandong Port Qinggang Logistics Sea-Rail Intermodal Transport Center, has a core job every day to ensure that these goods from all over the world catch up with the international liner from Qingdao Port on time.

Sea-rail combined transportation is convenient, stable and cost-saving.Now, more and more products of various types from inland factories such as Zhengzhou and Xi'an are gathered at Qingdao Port through sea-rail combined transportation and then sent overseas.

Shandong Port Qinggang Logistics Sea-Rail Intermodal Transport Center Assistant Manager Dai Xuechao gave a set of hard-core data:

·Shandong Port has now opened 109 sea-rail intermodal trains

·In the first half of the year, Shandong ports completed a sea-rail intermodal transport volume of 2.453 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 11.9%

The low-cost, high-timeliness intermodal transport model is becoming a golden channel for inland enterprises to connect with the ASEAN market.

RCEP tariff dividend highlights

Intermediate goods trade has become the main force of growth

Behind smooth logistics is the policy advantage that the RCEP agreement continues to release.Promote the continuous deepening of production and supply chain cooperation between my country and Southeast Asia in various fields, and the routes between the two parties are getting denser and denser.

As the world’s largest free trade agreement, it will take effect in 15 countries starting from January 2022. It is currently the world’s largest free trade agreement. More than 90% of goods trade in the region will eventually achieve zero tariffs, especially intermediate products such as motorcycle parts and chemical raw materials. Tax reductions are obvious.

Wang Jinxia, ​​manager of the customer service department of Qingdao Gangjietong Logistics Co., Ltd., said that the current trade demand for chemical raw materials, rubber oil and other intermediate products is booming, and 4 containers of nearly 100 tons of rubber oil are waiting to be shipped to Haiphong Port in Vietnam.She said: China's supply is stable and cost-effective, and it is highly recognized by ASEAN manufacturers.

Data confirm market changes: In the first half of the year, my country's imports and exports of intermediate goods to ASEAN were 2.86 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.5%, accounting for two-thirds of the total bilateral trade, and regional industrial chain and supply chain cooperation continued to deepen.

In the first half of this year, Qingdao Port opened 5 new direct routes to ASEAN, bringing the total number of ASEAN routes to more than 50.Major ports such as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia can be reached directly at high frequency. Ban Zhengqi, planning director of the QQCTU Operations Department of Qingdao Port, Shandong Port, said: At most, 5 to 6 Southeast Asian shipping lines can be reached in a day.

Made in China is popular in Southeast Asia

Overseas merchants are looking for good Chinese goods

Near the dock, the reporter met a Thai trader who purchased 40 containers of floor washing machines and prepared to transport them back to Thailand from Qingdao Port for sale.

He said bluntly that the quality and innovation of Chinese products have greatly improved, and with the addition of RCEP tariff reductions, import costs have been significantly reduced, and local consumers can buy more high-quality products.

Qingdao Port’s foreign trade exports have a strong growth momentum: in the first half of the year, ship exports to ASEAN soared by 160.9%, commercial vehicle exports increased by 55.1%, exports of “three new products” increased by as much as 163.5%, and domestic products exported to the sea are gaining momentum.

Green channel speeds up customs clearance

ASEAN fresh food quickly enters the domestic market

In the evening, a liner loaded with 654 TEUs of ASEAN goods docked, fruits and cold chain consumer goods were unloaded one after another, and at 4 a.m. it set sail for Vietnam filled with domestic goods.

In order to solve the problem of fresh food preservation, Huangdao Customs has launched facilitation measures: fresh agricultural products customs has opened a green channel, implemented priority review, priority inspection, and expedited testing to minimize the customs clearance time for fresh goods.

Qingdao Customs statistics show that the total import and export volume of Qingdao Port to ASEAN in the first half of the year was 255.63 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%. Imports of ASEAN specialty agricultural products and resource commodities have steadily increased, and domestic consumers can buy Southeast Asian goods at affordable prices without leaving home.