As Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, the Nepalese Ambassador to China, stood in front of the sand table showcasing the ongoing Pinglu Canal Project, he couldn’t help but envision a positive future.
After the project is completed, it can not only facilitate China’s inland transportation but also enhance the interconnection between the country and the world, he said.
Shrestha was part of a 34-member group of diplomatic envoys from countries including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Mexico that visited south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region earlier this month for a two-day trip. The group included five ambassadors.
The visitors were shown around the ports and logistic parks, and explained about the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
Launched in 2017, this corridor is a trade and logistics passage jointly built by provincial-level regions in western China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members.
Connected with ASEAN countries by land and sea, Guangxi serves as a frontier for exchanges and cooperation between China and the ASEAN countries, as well as a key node of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
The number of trains passing via the corridor’s rail-sea intermodal service reached 8,820 in 2022. In the same year, Guangxi started the construction of the Pinglu Canal, one of the major projects of the corridor to offer a shorter route to the sea.
“As a landlocked country, Nepal looks forward to further enhancing connectivity with China, and deepening cooperation in areas such as new energy vehicles and foreign trade to benefit from the new corridor,” said Shrestha.
“This is a modern port with great prospects,” said Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona while visiting the Qinzhou automated container terminal at the Beibu Gulf Port.
He noted that facilitated by the sea-rail intermodal service, goods from Sri Lanka and other countries can be delivered to the inland areas of China more efficiently and conveniently, expressing hopes to see more Sri Lankan products enter the Chinese market through the trade corridor.
The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor has developed rapidly over the years, expanding the number of destinations to 393 ports in 119 countries and regions by the end of February in 2023.
“We hope that countries could take the opportunity to participate in the construction of the new corridor, and share the dividends of China’s development,” said Chen Li, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs Management in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
