An aerial view of the Guoyuan Port in Liangjiang New Area, Southwest China's Chongqing. Zhang Jinghui and Wan Nan / For China Daily

Chongqing Free Trade Port Area (CFTA) has maintained strong momentum in the development of cross-border e-commerce, after a series of intelligent upgrades.

During the first half of this year, there were up to 7.2 million orders worth 1.1 billion yuan ($163 million) handed in the area, local media reported on July 16.

Riding the surging wave of the digital economy, the port area has built up an intelligent sorting & packaging system capable of processing some 150,000 cross-border orders on a daily basis.

Thirty-two e-commerce companies, including industry leader Alibaba, discount retailer Vipshop and NetEase Kaola, have expanded their warehouses in Liangjiang.

Up to July, CFTA's accumulated e-commerce trade volume has exceeded 2.6 billion yuan this year, accounting for almost 40 percent of the total volume for Chongqing municipality.

Recently, Chinese e-commerce giant Xiaohongshu, or Redhome, also announced that it will launch a new project in the port area.

As China's first free trade area consisting of both a water port and an airport, CFTA is an important hub for trade between Southwest China and Europe.

The water port area covers 2.43 square kilometers, and the airport area 5.94 square kilometers. Linking the two is a 17-kilometer-long expressway.

NetEase Kaola's cross-border e-commerce project in Chongqing Free Trade Port Area [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

A model of Chongqing Free Trade Port Area on display [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]