Liangjiang advances cooperation with APEC members

Changan Auto showcases its latest model at the 45th Bangkok International Motor Show. [Photo provided to english.liangjiang.gov.cn] 

In Rayong province, eastern Thailand, the manufacturing base of Chongqing-based Changan Auto is under construction and scheduled to start operating in the first quarter of 2025. The plant will produce 100,000 vehicles in the first year and 200,000 annually in the years to come.

It will also support Changan in exploring right-hand vehicle markets such as New Zealand, said Shen Xinghua, general manager of Changan Auto Southeast Asia.

Changan Auto, a microcosm of the deepening economic and trade exchanges between Liangjiang New Area and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members, has seen growing influence in the markets. In Peru, Changan Auto was the fourth best-selling brand in the first nine months of 2024.

Exchanges between Liangjiang and Singapore are more frequent. As a significant carrier of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity, Liangjiang has accumulated 81 China-Singapore cooperation projects with a total contract amount surpassing $11 billion.

Liangjiang is home to projects such as the NUS (Chongqing) Research Institute, China-Singapore Chongqing Multimodal Transportation Demonstration Base, Global Data Solutions Limited, and Raffles Hospital. 

Liangjiang is also strengthening inter-governmental and inter-company connections with APEC members and has achieved multi-leveled cooperation, according to a representative of the Liangjiang modern services bureau.

In addition, it is collaborating with Singapore on a sci-tech innovation park aimed to boost cooperation in industries, infrastructure, and green development.

Extensive cooperation is boosted by open channels, and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (NILSTC) connects Liangjiang with more than 500 ports all over the world. Cross-border liner routes starting from Guoyuan Port, such as the Chona-Laos, China-Myanmar, and China-Vietnam railway services, effectively connect more than 300 ports in more than 100 countries. Bananas from Laos, chrome ore from South Africa, fresh lemons from Chongqing, and more goods are delivered internationally through the routes.

Guoyuan Port in Liangjiang New Area is the largest port in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. [Photo by Lan Tian]

Chongqing-based auto giant SERES is gaining on the Corridor. The SERES factory in Indonesia had difficulty enhancing its competitive edge due to the time-consuming shipment of spare parts, according to Zhang Xingyan, president of the SERES overseas division.

With ILSTC transportation services, logistics time was cut from 30 days to 18 days, and the cost was trimmed by half. As of last December, SERES had more than 10,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) transported via ILSTC, with a total value surpassing 2 billion yuan ($276.09 million).

Liangjiang New Area is key to Chongqing's efforts to develop an open economy. It accounted for 30 percent of the municipality's total exports and imports and actual utilized foreign capital and 70 percent of its cross-border e-commerce. The new area is also home to half of the FG500 companies that currently operate in Chongqing.