The logistics cooperation base in Lianyungang, China and Kazakhstan is bustling with activity. The whistle sounded from time to time, and the gantry crane slowly rose and fell. The container loaded with daily necessities and mechanical equipment was smoothly lifted from the ocean going cargo ship to the railway flatbed truck. At the nearby railway dressing yard, staff organized their carriages in an orderly manner, and a China Europe freight train was ready to depart, heading westward along the New Eurasian Land Sea Intermodal Transport Corridor to Central Asian countries. Since its operation in 2014, the base has operated over 8000 China Europe and Central Asia freight trains, laying a golden logistics corridor connecting Europe and Asia on the coast of the Yellow Sea. In the first half of this year, a total of 485 trains were shipped, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. In June, the monthly operating volume exceeded the 100 train mark for the first time.

Innovative models reduce costs and increase efficiency

In the past, queuing up for transshipment, multiple loading and unloading, and prolonged port detention after cargo disembarked were many troubles for foreign trade enterprises. Nowadays, the congestion in the port area where ships and cars directly take over the operation area has changed. Containers are directly connected to railway cars after being unloaded from cargo ships, without the need for secondary transfer throughout the entire process. The base has collaborated with customs, railway and other port units to launch four new business models and two new regulatory models. Measures such as zero waiting for ships and trains, bonded China Europe freight trains, and mixed export have been successively implemented. Through a complete set of innovative business models, the transit time of trains has been reduced by 75%, and the comprehensive logistics cost has been reduced by 60%. By the end of 2025, the bonded business has saved foreign trade enterprises over 380000 US dollars in transportation costs. The railway dressing workshop operates 24 hours a day, implementing a three shift system with a flexible allocation mechanism. The complete dressing of a single carriage only takes 6 minutes.

Digital empowerment with full visibility

The location, mileage and estimated arrival time of each container are clearly marked on the large screen of the base dispatching center. The digital system connects the customs, railway and Khorgos East Gate Dry Port in Kazakhstan, realizing real-time cross-border data exchange. Through the upgraded tracking system, staff can easily access the entire logistics information chain with just one click based on the container number and waybill number. After the online payment and intelligent arrival reminder functions at the gate are launched, enterprises no longer need to travel back and forth to the site, greatly improving operational efficiency. Digital means have made cross-border logistics visible and manageable, changing the previous situation of information asymmetry and difficult tracking. Keywords: Infrastructure News Network, Logistics Base, International Trade

The return cargo volume is leading in the country

On the other side of the base dock, return trains from Central Asia arrived in an orderly manner, and goods such as potassium chloride, urea, and asbestos were continuously unloaded from the yard. The eastbound return cargo volume remained among the top in the country, completely changing the previous imbalance of returning goods by air. On the basis of the continuous expansion of transportation capacity in the main channel of Central Asia, the base has joined forces with China Railway Container and other enterprises to open up a new line of China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway road intermodal transportation. Relying on the one box system full transportation mode, goods can be loaded and entrusted directly to the destination in one go, and the entire transportation time is stably controlled within 15 days. This year, the highest monthly shipment of 738 vehicles on this route has become an important source of goods distribution node in Jiangsu Province, fully unleashing the advantages of intermodal transportation between seaports and Central Asian land routes. The base continues to explore the potential of channels, overcome various obstacles and difficulties in multimodal transportation, and inject lasting momentum into the high-quality development of cross-border multimodal transportation nationwide.Editor/Gao Xue