"Hard connectivity" seeks mutual benefit and a new pattern of prosperity - one of a series of reports on Inner Mongolia's promotion of high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative

On December 8, the total annual freight volume of Inner Mongolia land ports exceeded 100 million tons, setting a new record for the total annual freight volume of land ports in China's border provinces and regions. This is also the latest achievement of China's opening up to the north.

Looking back at the 45th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, opening up has a strong role in promoting the prosperity and development of a country or region. Among them, the interconnection of infrastructure plays a pivotal role.

Inner Mongolia is located in the northern Xinjiang of the motherland, spanning the "Three Norths", bordering Russia and Mongolia on the outside, and eight provinces and regions on the inside. According to the country's positioning of Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia is deeply integrated into the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", and strives to build an important bridgehead for China's opening to the north.

At present, Inner Mongolia has a total of 20 ports approved by the State Council to open to the outside world, forming a multi-faceted and three-dimensional pattern of opening up ports such as railways, highways and aviation. The freight volume of highway ports has ranked first in the country for many years, and the freight volume of railway ports has ranked in the forefront, gradually embarking on a port development road rich in Inner Mongolia characteristics.

Agglomeration factor support to ensure the increase of transportation volume

Infrastructure connectivity is a priority area of the Belt and Road Initiative, and is also an important support for improving the level of trade facilitation. Inner Mongolia has gradually built the two hub ports of Manzhouli and Erenhot, as well as key ports such as Ganqimaodu, Ceke and Mandula, into important national ports with sound mechanisms, rich functions and smooth operation.

At 8 o'clock on December 8, Ganqimaodu Port, the highway port with the largest freight volume in the country, began customs clearance on the same day. In the port "twelve in seven out" smart bayonet, Inner Mongolia production of export heavy machinery vehicles out of the country in an orderly manner, full of Mongolian coal, copper powder trucks in turn, hanging on the front of the red silk, "the first to break 100 million tons" several big words are particularly conspicuous.

Ganqimaodu Port Intelligent Control Center Monitoring Platform.

As of December 8, 2023, the freight volume of land ports in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has reached 100.068 million tons, setting a record for the freight volume of land ports in China's border provinces and regions.

He Qiyeletu, deputy director of the Ganqimaodu Port Management Committee, said that since the beginning of this year, the infrastructure of Ganqimaodu Port has been greatly improved, a new pattern of diversified transportation has been constructed, and customs clearance and cargo clearance have accelerated. As of December 7 this year, the port has completed a total of 34.9757 million tons of import and export freight, an increase of 108.92% over the same period, and the single-day, single-month, and annual cargo volume has all refreshed historical records.

"With the increasingly close economic and trade exchanges between China and Mongolia at bilateral ports, 'Made in China' large automobiles, engineering equipment, infrastructure materials and daily necessities have been continuously exported to Mongolia. Since the beginning of this year, more than 1,200 vehicles have been exported from Ganqimaodu Port, and a fast lane for customs clearance of fresh fruits and vegetables has also been opened, and the export goods have gradually diversified. Zhong Chongen, chief of the Urat Customs Passenger Inspection Section of Hohhot Customs, introduced.

In 2018, the freight volume of Inner Mongolia ports exceeded 90 million tons for the first time, and due to the impact of the epidemic, it declined and rebounded in a few years, and the freight volume will recover to 58.422 million tons in 2022. From 2022 to 2023, in just one year, the freight volume of Inner Mongolia port will cross the step of 100 million tons, which is closely related to the support of the Inner Mongolia port system and the increase in the transportation volume.

In order to ensure the increase of traffic volume, the Inner Mongolia port system has studied and formulated the "Work Plan for Increasing the Inbound and Outbound Freight Volume of Ports in 2023" to promote the resumption of freight functions of all ports in the region; improve the guarantee mechanism of peak delayed customs clearance, weekend emergency customs clearance, and "green channel" for important materials, and have successively piloted a 24-hour freight customs clearance system at Manzhouli Port and Erenhot Port; continue to optimize the business environment of ports and promote the vigorous development of the pan-port economy.

Real-time monitoring screen of the smart control center of Ganqimaodu port.

The 17 key construction projects of ports in the region have been included in the 102 major projects of the national "14th Five-Year Plan" to promote the linkage development of "port + channel + industry + logistics" with the improvement of port functions.

Focusing on the special relief action for vehicle exports, the phased congestion problem of Manzhouli port has been fully solved, and the inventory of vehicles at the port has been dynamically balanced. From January to October this year, more than 53,000 vehicles were exported from ports in the region, a significant increase of more than 2 times year-on-year.

By the end of November, 11 land ports in Inner Mongolia had resumed dual passenger and cargo links, exceeding the annual volume target ahead of schedule.

"We will continue to give full play to the role of ports in accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, coordinate and promote the construction of safe, efficient, intelligent, rule of law, and green 'five-type' ports, serve high-quality development, promote high-level opening-up, and strive to write a new chapter of Chinese-style modernization in Inner Mongolia." The relevant person in charge of the Inner Mongolia Port Management Office said.

Innovate the customs clearance mode and strengthen the empowerment of science and technology

On November 2, at the Ceke Port in the Ejina Banner of the Alxa League in Inner Mongolia, unmanned intelligent heavy trucks were slowly entering the country through the Ceke Border Inspection Station along the set path. In 2022, the third largest port in Inner Mongolia invested 90 million yuan to launch the "China's first intelligent driving heavy truck" cross-border transportation project.

Corresponding to the Xibekulun Port in South Gobi Province of Mongolia, Ceke Port is an important transportation hub, business center, cargo distribution center and resource channel connecting China and abroad in northwest China.

"We are now running 5 smart heavy trucks on a trial basis, and it is expected that by the end of 2024, all 40 smart heavy trucks will be put into use. Inner Mongolia Shanhe Coal Industry Co., Ltd. Intelligent Heavy Truck Department Minister Li Ming introduced.

At the same time as the smart heavy truck, there are orange AGV unmanned transport vehicles in the logistics park of Ejinaqi Haotong Energy Co., Ltd. that are ready to go to Mongolia.

"Each AGV driverless transport vehicle has a circular mileage of about 3.2 kilometers from China to Mongolia and back to China, traveling back and forth to China and Mongolia more than 100 times a day, transporting more than 7,000 tons of coal per day. Geng Zikuan, AGV project manager of Ejina Qihaotong Energy Co., Ltd., introduced. Since the trial operation of the AGV driverless transport vehicle, the AGV at Ceke Port has completed the transportation of 440,000 tons of coal.

Ceke Port welcomes visitors from all over the world.

In 2018, Ceke Port fully launched the "six in and four out" freight channel smart bayonet system, which is the first land port in the country to connect the "single window" smart bayonet for international trade to the second phase of the customs golden customs system. After the official operation of the smart bayonet, the entire customs clearance process can be completed through automatic inspection and release, the customs clearance speed of entry and exit vehicles has been greatly improved, and the unmanned operation has realized a new mode of intelligent customs clearance at the port with one map of operation management, integration of intelligent inspection and release, and remote command of one-stop pass.

In order to further improve the speed of inspection and release and expand the volume of import and export trade, since the beginning of this year, the Ceke Port Economic Development Zone has continuously deepened the close cooperation with the local joint inspection department and the joint inspection unit of the Mongolian Xibekulun Port, comprehensively promoted the application of the national standard version of the "single window", accelerated the implementation of trade data coordination, and completed the reconstruction and expansion of the "ten in and six out" coal transportation channels through the implementation of the single window electronic inspection, and carried out the "inspection and inspection integration" of the cargo supervision site operations and other measures have promoted the steady growth of coal imports, and achieved a historical "double breakthrough" in single-day and cumulative shipments.

"As of November 2, the customs clearance volume of Ceke Port was 14.1971 million tons, a record in the past 31 years. Bai Geli, deputy director of the Port Affairs Bureau of Ceke Port Economic Development Zone, introduced.

In recent years, the Inner Mongolia port system has innovated the customs clearance mode, strengthened the empowerment of science and technology, and selected the optimal customs clearance mode according to local conditions, so as to ensure the stability and safety of the industrial chain and supply chain to the greatest extent.

Ceke Port "Ten in and Six Out" freight channel intelligent bayonet monitoring and command center.

At present, Inner Mongolia has completed the construction of intelligent bayonets for freight channels at 11 highway ports in terms of intelligent and information-based construction of ports, and has promoted the use of electronic transmission of cargo lists with Mongolian ports; completed the first phase of the "single window" project of international trade (Inner Mongolia) and has been put into use; video surveillance systems have been basically covered in 14 border port limited areas and customs supervision places, and the quality of visual supervision, intelligent management, and flat command capabilities has been effectively improved; Ganqimaodu, Ceke, Mandula and other ports are planning to build smart logistics projects.

Since 2023, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has allocated 40 million yuan to support the construction of the Inner Mongolia Smart Port Project, and the funds will mainly support the construction of a safe, efficient, green and intelligent modern port. At present, Ganqimaodu and Ceke ports have successfully trialed unmanned cross-border transportation, and the TIR import business volume of Erenhot Highway Port ranks first in the country. At the same time, the Inner Mongolia port system adheres to the principle of "one general case in the whole region and one sub-case in each port", and has formulated two smart port implementation plans in Erenhot and Manzhouli to ensure the standardization and precision of smart port construction.

"By 2025, Inner Mongolia will initially form a good ecology of intelligent interconnection, collaborative linkage and efficient operation among the main bodies of the port. The comprehensive hub port has basically been built into a smart port, the level of intelligent informatization of key professional port facilities and equipment has been significantly improved, the digitization of operation management and the facilitation of comprehensive services have achieved positive results, and the port traffic capacity will be effectively improved. The relevant person in charge of the Regional Cooperation and Information Technology Department of the Inner Mongolia Port Management Office introduced.

Serving the China-Europe Railway Express and Jointly Building the "Belt and Road"

On November 9, in the Manzhouli International Container Yard in Inner Mongolia, a China-Europe train full of goods docked on the rail line, and the huge gantry crane carried out the gondola operation in an orderly manner. Walking into the customs supervision and inspection area, containers from all over the world are neatly placed, and Manzhouli customs inspectors are busy unpacking and inspecting the controlled containers.

"Over the past 10 years, we have continuously integrated the concepts of informatization, digitization and intelligence into our regulatory operations. Now the China-Europe Express has not only entered the 'paperless' era, but we have also realized the data connection of customs, railways and operating enterprises, further reducing the customs declaration and transit links, reducing the loading and unloading and storage costs of goods, and realizing the 'non-inductive customs clearance' of the China-Europe Express. Yao Wenlong, chief of the first section of the customs inspection section of the Manzhouli station under the Manzhouli Customs, said while operating the inspection terminal.

In the past 10 years, in order to ensure the convenience and smoothness of the port, Manzhouli Port has continuously strengthened infrastructure construction, vigorously promoted the construction of a new international railway freight yard, opened a special container station, a coal bulk freight yard, an ore bulk freight yard and other professional freight yards, and increased the annual railway loading capacity from 30 million tons to 40 million tons. At the same time, the construction of the highway port expansion and upgrading project has been implemented to improve the customs clearance capacity of the highway port, and the annual customs clearance capacity of the highway port has been increased to 10 million personnel and 1 million vehicles.

A Russian tourist is going through customs.

The China-Europe Railway Express has three main transportation corridors in the east, middle and west, among which the Manzhouli port and Erenhot port in Inner Mongolia are the main entry and exit ports of the east and middle routes respectively.

At present, there are 57 China-Europe train routes transiting Manzhouli, with domestic origins covering more than 60 cities and radiating 28 cities in 13 countries, and 63 transit Erenhot China-Europe train routes, with more than 60 domestic origins covering more than 60 cities and more than 60 cities in more than 10 countries.

The number of transit trains at the two ports of Manzhouli and Erenhot accounts for 40% of the country's total, and the imported commodities include more than 1,000 kinds of boards, logs, pulp, clothing, mechanical and electrical products, vehicles and accessories, and more than 50,000 varieties of export commodities mainly include automobiles and accessories, electrical products, industrial machinery, clothing department stores, etc., helping the country to increase exports, stabilize foreign trade, and maintain the security of the supply chain.

In the past ten years, Inner Mongolia has carried out trade exchanges with 152 countries that jointly build the "Belt and Road", and the "circle of friends" is getting bigger and bigger.

Over the past decade, Inner Mongolia has continued to expand its trade with its Belt and Road partners, with the value of trade rising from 53.5 billion yuan in 2013 to 118.79 billion yuan in the first 10 months of this year. In the first 10 months of this year, the growth rate of Inner Mongolia's imports and exports to the Belt and Road countries was 10.1 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.

Fan Lijun, director of the Inner Mongolia Belt and Road Research Institute of the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Inner Mongolia has now had influence in the countries along the 'Belt and Road'. ”

Russian travel agency vehicles are waiting for tourists.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. In the past 10 years, Inner Mongolia's port facilities have achieved a historic leap, laying a solid foundation for promoting economic, trade and production capacity cooperation, strengthening cultural exchanges and personnel exchanges.

A few days ago, the "Opinions of the State Council on Promoting the High-quality Development of Inner Mongolia and Striving to Write a New Chapter of Chinese-style Modernization" clarified the general direction and principle of "reform and opening up and shaping advantages", and made targeted and operable strategic arrangements for deepening the market-oriented reform of factor allocation in our region, continuously optimizing the market-oriented, law-based, international, first-class business environment, actively participating in the construction of the "Belt and Road" and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, strengthening cooperation with other regions in China, and building a global open platform.

"We will continue to give full play to the four functions of port channels, hubs, platforms and windows, improve the customs clearance capacity, collection and distribution capacity, and landing processing capacity of the port, build a first-class modern port with international competitiveness, and contribute to the high-quality construction of Inner Mongolia as an important bridgehead for China's opening to the north. Shang Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Department of Commerce of Inner Mongolia and director of the Port Management Office, said.

Standing at the new space-time coordinate point, Inner Mongolia seizes the historical opportunity to promote the transformation of the port region into a strong port area, and continues to make breakthroughs in multiple dimensions such as accessibility, cohesion, allocation and service capabilities, and strives to play a more important role in the construction of the "Belt and Road" and deeply integrate into the global economic system with a more open attitude.