The inland northwestern municipality of Chongqing has taken a big step towards building itself into an international logistics hub through the official inauguration of the "1+1" Multimodal Transport & Logistics Demonstration Project on Aug 31.

The project is a key cooperation of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity, which aims to pilot cooperation across the fields of financial services, aviation, transportation, logistics and information communication technology.

The platform consists of China-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Connectivity Logistics Development Co and China-Singapore (Chongqing) Multimodal Transport & Logistic Development Co Ltd, which are funded by ten leading Chongqing and Singapore logistics companies with 100 million yuan ($15 million) and 50 million yuan, respectively.

The inauguration of the "1+1" Multimodal Transport & Logistics Demonstration Project is held in Chongqing on Aug 31. [Photo by Li Wenke/liangjiang.gov.cn]

The two logistics companies will establish offices in the Liangjiang New Area's Yufu Industrial Park, driving the area to establish a standardized system of multimodal transport and logistics.

Yang Lijie, deputy director of the Liangjiang New Area administrative committee, said the establishment of a standardized logistics system aims to reduce costs and make full use of Chongqing's transportation advantages.

Liangjiang expects a B-type bonded logistics center to be established in its Guoyuan Port, as well as a regulatory center to guide customs, inspection and quarantine for multimodal transport. Support is also needed to build Yuzui Station into a second stop on the Yuxinou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) International Railway.

Guoyuan Port is the largest port in Chongqing, and will be built into a demonstration base for Sino-Singapore multimodal transport. [Photo by Zhang Jinhui/liangjiang.gov.cn]

The China-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Connectivity Logistics Development Co, a light asset company, focuses on consultancy of transport and logistics projects, construction of international logistics channels and solution services for logistics resources integration.

Also the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Multimodal Transport & Logistic Development Co Ltd will develop businesses based on local sound logistics resources and construct infrastructures, such as logistic equipment, warehousing and storage and information platform.

Edited by Zachary Dye