Chongqing city in Southwest China is sparing no effort to build an intelligent inland port by 2019, local media reported on Feb 27.

Guoyuan Port, situated at Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, is expected to become the first fully-automated terminal at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

The big part of the automation includes making Guoyuan port's container wharf and storage yard intelligent and completing the construction of a conveyer belt system for bulk cargo.

A manager of Chongqing Port Logistics Group said, "Guoyuan port will strive to become one of the best inland ports in the world."

Liangjiang New Area's Guoyuan Port is a departure station on the Sino-Euro railway.[Photo by Fu Siying/liangjiang.gov.cn]

Other aspects of the automation include strengthening the application of big data in the construction of logistics infrastructure and e-commerce platforms.

The upgraded port will also provide more efficient transportation and smarter service for the Sino-European railway.

The process has been swinging along pretty well so far. For example, Guoyuan port has developed a remote control system for cranes. In the past a worker could only control one RTG on site, while now he can control four RTGs from the office.

Also, a more efficient multi-mode transport system has been established that includes container management and railway-water combined transport management.

In addition, the automation will help lower the operation costs of Guoyuan Port, which has been approved as a point of departure for the China-European Railway, and boost Chongqing's construction as an international logistics hub, according to a local manager.