Chinese domestic container liner operator Zhonggu Shipping Group has signed an agreement with Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group and Guangxi Free Trade Pilot Zone Qinzhou Port Area to jointly develop a US$70 million container multimodal logistics base in Qinzhou port in the Guangxi autonomous region.
This development, named Zhonggu Qinzhou Container Intermodal Logistics Base is part of Guangxi Beibu Port’s plan to boost Qinzhou’s annual container volumes to around 10 million TEU.
Guangxi Beibu Port is promoting Qinzhou as a gateway into Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the western region of China, to develop the region’s economic growth.
The logistics base covers a 130-hectare area and features large container yards, a hub station for sea-rail combined transportation, transfer base for outbound containers, container storage, a cold chain logistics base and an automobile logistics centre.
Construction on the project began in early July, a month after the agreement was signed, during a meeting between Zhonggu’s founding chairman and CEO, Lu Zongjun, Nanning (Guangxi Zhuang’s capital city) mayor Zhou Hongbo and Guangxi Zhuang government’s deputy secretary-general, Yang Bin. The project is expected to be completed by year-end and will start construction in the near future with operations beginning within the year.
Lu said that Qinzhou, being centrally located in Beibu Gulf, has great development potential. Zhonggu will therefore use the logistics base as a starting point to opening new routes through Qinzhou.
He said, “Using our branding, we will attract more enterprises to invest in Qinzhou, and jointly contribute to accelerating the construction of a modern port.”
Zhonggu is China’s second largest container shipping company after COSCO Shipping Lines, it handled 22 million TEU through Chinese ports in 2019.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
