Thousands of containers piled up at the Guoyuan port. [Photo/The Port and Logistics Office of Chongqing Municipal People's Government]

The Chongqing National Airport-Based Logistics Hub was officially unveiled on Jan 4, according to reports from Chongqing Daily, making Chongqing the only city in the southwestern China that has been approved.

Chongqing's unique geographic location and significant role in a series of national initiatives to a large extent account for the winning of the new title.

Located at the junction of the Belt and Road Initiative route and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Chongqing is the only metropolis in West China that fuses railway, road, water, and air transportation. The municipality is also playing an irreplaceable part in the new western land-sea corridor and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle.

Guoyuan port – China's third-generation modern inland port in Liangjiang New Area, is the largest container transport and major bulk cargo distribution center in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Chongqing International Logistics Hub Park is the starting station and destination for many China-Europe freight trains (Chengdu-Chongqing) and the new land-sea corridor. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is one of the eight national core regional airports.

Last year, some 112,000 standard containers had been transported into or out of Chongqing through the new corridor, a yearly increase of 57 percent; 4,800 China-Europe freight trains were launched in Chongqing, with the total trade value hitting 200 billion yuan ($31.5 billion), ranking first in China.

Now the municipality is tasked with new missions in the airport transportation, with a group of major programs signed during the unveiling ceremony on Jan 4. The Port and Logistics Office of Chongqing Municipal People's Government and the Yubei district government signed contracts with Sichuan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, China Express Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and China Post Group Co, with the total contract volume involved exceeding 10 billion yuan.