Chongqing becomes beating heart of intl trade corridor

In the past, goods from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states endured a roundabout trip to reach China's landlocked western regions. The situation gradually began to change five years ago, when the new International Land-Sea Trade Corridor was launched, cutting the previous journey to less than 10 days. Deng Hongjiu, general manager of Chongqing Hongjiu Fruit Co was one of the beneficiaries of the change.

As the largest distributor of fresh durian in China, the Chongqing-based company has been importing the fruit from Thailand for years. According to Deng, the shipments used to be transferred to a port in Thailand first before being shipped to Chinese ports. From there, the company would rent trucks to transport the cargo to Chongqing.

"The rail-sea train that runs along the ILSTC corridor saves us time and money," Deng said.