Gansu International Logistics Group Posts Robust Growth in Q1 with Booming Foreign-Oriented Economy

The first international linseed train from Kazakhstan arrived at Zhongchuan North Station in Lanzhou New Area; a JSQ international train loaded with 240 new energy vehicles departed from Lanzhou International Land Port and reached Tashkent, Uzbekistan; a fixed “China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan” train carrying daily necessities set off for the hinterland of Central Asia. Since the start of this year, Gansu International Logistics Group has closely followed the strategic deployment of the province’s “Five-Strengths” Action, delivering a solid performance in foreign-oriented economy. 

Xinhua News Agency reports that statistics show that in the first quarter, the group’s import and export trade volume increased by 110.2% year-on-year, the number of international train departures rose by 30.1% year-on-year, and it drove an 84.9% year-on-year growth in the import and export trade volume of Lanzhou New Area Comprehensive Bonded Zone. The channel advantage shifting from “land-sea linkage” to “westward-oriented focus” is accelerating into a momentum of high-quality development, with foreign-oriented economic indicators achieving leapfrog growth. 

The group has balanced bulk and characteristic products to improve the quality of international trade. Focusing on the “Strong Industry” Action’s demand for strategic resource guarantee and the “Strong Technology” Action’s requirement for industrial innovation, it has steadily imported foreign characteristic products such as grain, oil and mineral products, while expanding the export scale of precious metals and agricultural products.

In the first quarter, breakthroughs were made in bulk product trade: the import of 170,000 tonnes of Australian Newman iron ore was successfully implemented, and the regular import of Peruvian silver concentrate provided stable raw material support for the province’s non-ferrous smelting industrial chain. China Daily reports that the group’s overseas warehouse in Peru, the first of its kind in Gansu, has been put into operation, with a monthly trading volume of over 5,000 tonnes, laying a foundation for expanding the South American market. 

In the agricultural product sector, it imported more than 2,000 tonnes of high-quality linseed from Kazakhstan and nearly 50,000 tonnes of forage wheat flour, and helped 47 tonnes of Jingning apples be exported to Nepal, further broadening the export channel for “Gansu Flavor” products. 

The group has upgraded and expanded international trains to make logistics channels more smooth. Aiming to build a “three-dimensional and diversified” transportation and logistics system, it has vigorously created an international business ecosystem of “train + industry”, “train + trade” and “train + finance”. Xinhua News Agency notes that the “China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan” rail-road intermodal international train has been normalized to one train per week, and will be increased to two trains per week in July.

In the first quarter, the fixed JSQ train made a breakthrough in shipment volume and was dispatched from Manzhouli Port for the first time, opening a new channel for commodity vehicle exports. It also imported 54,000 tonnes of high-quality forage through Central Asian return trains and transshipped it, helping build a provincial forage distribution and processing center. 

Su Liang, Chairman of Land-Sea New Corridor Operation Gansu Co., Ltd., stated that the group is deepening overseas cooperation by advancing logistics base construction with Kazakhstan and reaching consensus on building an overseas comprehensive service platform with Peru and Brazil. “We have effectively connected local characteristic industries with overseas markets, breaking the bottlenecks in the industrial chain from fields to international ports,” he said. 

With its strong start in the first quarter, Gansu International Logistics Group is injecting new momentum into Gansu’s integration into the high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road” and the construction of an inland open highland.