On July 6, 2021, the Yangluo International Port Water-Rail Combined Transport Promotion Conference was held in Wuhan. This promotion conference was sponsored by the Wuhan Municipal People's Government and undertaken by Wuhan Xingang Management Committee, Xinzhou District People's Government, and COSCO Shipping Ports Co., Ltd. With the theme of “Pivot of Yangtze River and Port Connect Globally”, the promotion conference attracted representatives from railways, shipping, ports, logistics, finance and trade e-commerce companies in the Yangtze River Basin to discuss new forms of collaboration.

On the day of the promotion meeting, Wuhan Municipal Standing Committee Member and Deputy City People’s Government Changjiang Wei, Deputy General Manager Huang Xiaowen of China COSCO Shipping Group Co., Ltd., Zhang Lin, Secretary of Wuhan Xingang Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee, and Huang Ke, Second Inspector of Yangtze River Shipping Administration Difficult, Tu Shanfeng, head of Hubei Port Group Co., Ltd., and Zhao Lihong, secretary of Wuhan Xinzhou District Party Committee, delivered speeches. The promotion meeting was chaired by Fang Jie, Deputy Secretary-General of Wuhan Municipal People's Government. Ding Xiangming, Vice President of Shanghai International Port Group, Lin Min, Chief Dispatcher of China Railway Wuhan Bureau Group, Luo Hailin, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Pan Asia Shipping Company, Jiang Qinghua, Deputy General Manager of China Yangtze River Shipping Group, Luo Guowei, Deputy General Manager of Hubei Airport Group, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company General Manager Assistant Liu Licheng and other relevant persons in charge of port and shipping logistics enterprises were invited to make special speeches. Feng Boming, Chairman of the Board of Directors of COSCO SHIPPING Ports Co., Ltd., delivered a speech of thanks.

The project started on August 1, 2020. The project construction has overcome a series of blockages and difficulties such as wading, dykes, flood prevention safety zones, railways, urban roads, comprehensive municipal facilities, equipment manufacturing and installation, etc. The port will be opened for operation on August 1, 2021, and will be completed and put into use in 2022.

After a period of operation, a throughput of 1 million TEUs and a combined water and rail transport volume of 500,000 TEUs can be formed, and the "last mile" between railway and waterway transport can be opened up, forming "the same iron port, the same operation, and the same inspection site," The integrated pattern of "information in the same field" has become the largest water-rail combined transportation base on the Yangtze River.

The project is located in Yangluo Economic and Technological Development Zone, Xinzhou District, Wuhan City, with a total construction area of about 852 acres and a total investment of about 2.8 billion yuan. It mainly includes three parts: wharf operation area, railway station area and subsidiary operation area. Among them, 4 container berths have been built in the terminal operation area, and the "1140" ship type is expected to be used for reliable berthing. The annual throughput is expected to reach 1 million TEUs. A 1,050-meter railway loading and unloading line has been built in the railway station area. Rail combined transport operations can reach 500,000 TEUs; the auxiliary operation area provides supporting value-added logistics services for water-rail combined transport projects such as unpacking and packing, washing and repairing containers, and empty container storage. The project will simultaneously add "5G+" and other smart elements to build China's first railway loading and unloading automated terminal, promoting the transformation and upgrading of the traditional port of the Yangtze River to a new type of green and smart port.

Changjiang Wei, a member of the Standing Committee of the Wuhan Municipal Party Committee and deputy city of the Municipal People's Government, stated in his speech that Wuhan is the first provincial capital city to be approved for the national "transportation power construction" pilot program. The advantages of the "nine provinces thoroughfare" are very obvious, and it is a well-deserved "overpass of the motherland." After the opening of the second phase of the Yangluo International Port's container water-rail combined transport project, it will form a port operation capacity of 1 million TEUs and a water-rail combined transport transfer capacity, making it the largest water-rail combined transport hub in the inland river and the first "smart port" in the inland river.

In the "Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Energy Level and Quality of the City", the Wuhan Municipal Government proposed to build a strong transportation country, build a model city, build a shipping center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in Wuhan, and build the second phase of the Yangluo International Port container water-rail transport project, and improve the container The infrastructure of the port cluster is to build a hub port in the central region of my country. By 2025, the annual container throughput of Wuhan Port will reach 5 million TEUs. The project will become an important support for improving the energy level and quality of the city, as well as an important component for the construction of a national central city and a core city in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Huang Xiaowen, deputy general manager of COSCO SHIPPING Group, said in his speech: “As the world’s largest integrated shipping company, COSCO SHIPPING Group has always attached great importance to industrial development in Wuhan. It has established its container business regional headquarters and management center in Wuhan to coordinate operations in the Yangtze River. In the upstream container business, COSCO Shipping Container Transport Global Information Service Center and Hubei Storage and Transportation Logistics Supply Chain Center have been established in Wuhan."

He emphasized that in the future, COSCO SHIPPING will use Wuhan as the fulcrum and the second phase of the Yangluo International Port container water-rail transportation project as the platform, using the shipping, port, logistics, and financial resource clusters in the COSCO SHIPPING system to serve as partners for customers. Provide good services, unblock the entire supply chain of the Yangtze River, serve the construction of a domestic and international dual circular economy system, vigorously promote Wuhan to build a hub port city in the middle of the country, and promote the high-quality development of Hubei Province and Wuhan City.

Zhang Lin, Secretary of the Work Committee of Wuhan Xingang and Director of the Management Committee, said in his speech: "Today's promotion activities carry the important mission of high-quality development of Wuhan Yangtze River Midstream Shipping Center. I hope that the results of the project will serve as the largest inland water-rail combined transportation hub. Accelerate the expansion into hinterland markets such as the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the central region of China, profoundly change the logistics mode and transportation pattern of the Yangtze River Basin and the central and western regions; focus on the advantages of water and rail combined transportation, accelerate the construction of business logistics and regional distribution capacity, and make good use of the conditions of Wuhan hub; Promote the vertical extension of the industry, cross-border integration, and promote the integrated development of port, industry and city."

The second phase of the container water-rail transport project of Yangluo International Port was constructed and operated by Wuhan COSCO Shipping Port Terminal Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of COSCO Shipping Port Company. As the shareholder representative, Feng Boming, chairman of the board of directors of COSCO SHIPPING Ports, expressed his sincere gratitude to the Hubei and Wuhan provincial and municipal governments, the customer partners in the Yangtze River Basin, and the first-line builders who have worked hard in the second phase of the Yangluo International Port's water-rail combined transport project. . He said that since the project was approved and approved, in just over a year, it has achieved the speed and efficiency from the approval, construction and operational readiness, which is a model in the industry. The careful guidance and strong support of all parties have created conditions for the start-up and operation of water-rail combined transportation and the development of domestic and foreign trade business.

Taking advantage of the promotion opportunity, Feng Boming, on behalf of COSCO SHIPPING Ports, once again extended a sincere invitation to cooperation with customers and partners, and joined hands with Wuhan to build a hub port in the central region. Feng Boming said that he will continue to uphold the development concept of "The Ports for ALL", relying on COSCO SHIPPING's global leading shipping, terminals and logistics and other full-chain resources, as well as Wuhan's unparalleled central location advantages, to give new kinetic energy to water-rail intermodal transportation. , Committed to providing customers with value-added supply chain services with higher operational efficiency, faster response to demand, and better integrated logistics costs; leveraging COSCO SHIPPING’s fruitful scientific research results in 5G smart ports, fully applying artificial intelligence and digital cutting-edge technologies, and actively creating Smart port demonstration project; working with partners to accelerate the integrated operation of Yangluo International Port, and build a comprehensive logistics hub that radiates to the central and western regions and the upper reaches of the river, and connects Wuhan to the world more closely.

As the world’s leading integrated port operator, COSCO SHIPPING Ports will also form a higher-level and larger-scale cooperation situation with Hubei Province and Wuhan City through the establishment of the Yangtze River fulcrum, and empower the value upgrade of the entire industrial chain of port and shipping in Wuhan. Create a shipping network that can provide cost, service and coordination with linkage effects, serve regional economic development, and achieve global portability and cargo delivery.

Liu Zhenxing, director of the project construction headquarters office, presided over the keynote speech session and thematic speech session. As the project leader, Qiu Jincheng, managing director of Wuhan COSCO SHIPPING Ports & Terminals Co., Ltd., made recommendations from 5 aspects including market focus, Wuhan advantages, project promotion, product introduction, and case analysis, and answered "How does the project satisfy customers?" This market question fully presents the project's "one-stop" water-rail combined transportation, mid-stream ship home port water-to-water transfer, port and station same site, collection and distribution conversion, warehousing supporting functions and other service features. Facing questions such as "Can the second phase of the water-railway project be able to do both domestic and foreign trade? Can the introduction of new technology management improve operational efficiency? Is the water-railway transportation efficiency higher? Is the transportation cost lower?" The answer was affirmative. The second phase of the container water-rail transportation project of Yangluo International Port will focus on three major products, namely, water-rail transportation, water-to-water transfer, customized upgrades, and on-demand conversion of different packaging. It will achieve full upstream transfer and full downstream diversion, which will be the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Dam-over operations, water-rail combined transportation and other existing logistics path pain points provide efficient, full-process and economical one-stop solutions.

The keynote promotion took "Chengdu-Shanghai" as a case, and compared the cost and transportation time of the four modes of transportation: direct highway, direct railway, direct waterway, and water-railway (Wuhan transit) through data. Water-rail combined transportation can reduce the cost by half while greatly shortening the transportation time and improving transportation efficiency. Water-rail combined transportation is faster than the entire waterway, and more economical than the entire road and railway. Relying on the latest technology, the terminal will also be unmanned and paperless to continuously improve operating efficiency, and with fully functional auxiliary operating areas to meet customer customized needs. With the integration of traditional river-sea combined transport and China-Europe trains in the project, a new international logistics trade channel from Northeast Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia via Wuhan to Europe will be further opened up.

Keywords: state-owned enterprise reports, engineering meetings

Ding Xiangming, Vice President of Shanghai International Port Group, Lin Min, Chief Dispatcher of China Railway Wuhan Bureau Group, Luo Hailin, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Pan Asia Shipping Company, Jiang Qinghua, Deputy General Manager of China Yangtze River Shipping Group, Wan Dexue, Chief Accountant of Hubei Airport Group, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company Liu Licheng, assistant to the general manager, Tu Shanfeng, head of Hubei Port Group, and other guests made special speeches on the cooperation prospects of the second phase of the Yangluo International Port water-rail combined transport project. Guests at the meeting said that they will take the new project cooperation as an opportunity to collaborate with new business formats and jointly enhance the customer's experience of the Yangtze River's full service. Participating in the event were Wuhan Customs, Yangtze River Navigation Administration of the Ministry of Transport, heads of municipal governments in Huangshi, Ezhou, Huanggang, Xianning, Xiaogan, Xiantao, Tianmen, Qianjiang, etc., as well as locals from Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian and Hubei. More than a dozen home economics media and industry media.Editor/Xing Wentao