At around 10 o'clock on June 30th, accompanied by the long whistle, a train loaded with BYD cars slowly departed from the newly built Zhengzhou International Land Port Railway Operation Station, heading to Uzbekistan, marking the official opening of the Zhengzhou International Land Port and the starting of its special railway lines. At the same time, the aviation port, high-speed railway port, international land port, and road port present a vivid scene of "four-port linkage" in this area of rapid development. Like a powerful "locomotive", Zhengzhou International Land Port is leading Henan province to a new level of opening up to the outside world.
Two years ago, the provincial party committee and government planned to build a new international land port with a vision for the next 30 years, proposing to build according to the requirements of a "modern, international, world-class" inland port, creating a "world-class international railway hub port, China-Europe express train trade and innovation demonstration zone, and a leading area for high-quality development of inland port economy."
Now, this blueprint is gradually becoming a reality.
Forward-looking planning solving the "growing pains"
For many years, Henan province has fully leveraged its transportation location advantages and vigorously promoted the construction of land ports, achieving remarkable results.
As an important open platform for Henan to participate in the construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative," the international land port system centered around Putian in Zhengzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone has gradually grown into a comprehensive freight hub integrating multimodal transport, port-specific logistics, and customs supervision, and has developed into a national-level demonstration project for multimodal transport.
The China-Europe express train service in Henan has become more frequent and faster-paced, developing from an initial frequency of one train per month to around 200 trains per month currently, with a cumulative operation of over 11,000 trains...
While the achievements are remarkable, the development of land ports are also facing "growing pains": the Zhengzhou International Land Port Economic Development Zone is only 8 kilometers away from the city center, with an area of about 5.8 square kilometers, which is relatively small in scale and has limited surrounding construction space.
How to break through this situation? The provincial Party committee and government have made major strategic deployments, planning to develop the Zhengzhou International Land Port Aviation Port area, which becomes an important measure for our province to implement the strategy of rebuilding advantages and to promote the transformation of transportation location advantages into hub economic advantages.
From 5.8 square kilometers to 50 square kilometers, from "solo efforts" to "four-port linkage," the China-Europe express trains will stand at a "new starting point" in Zhengzhou Aviation Port, accelerating towards the hinterland of Asia and Europe.
"Burning the midnight oil" and overcoming difficulties to ensure the project schedule
On September 28, 2022, the construction of the Zhengzhou International Railway Port project officially launched. To complete the construction of a fully equipped international port on a 50-square-kilometer land with no water, electricity, or roads in less than two years is seen as an "impossible mission" by industry insiders.
How to turn the "impossible mission" into "possible one"? The provincial party committee and government attached great importance to the construction of the Zhengzhou International Land Port. The provincial Party secretary Lou Yangsheng and the governor Wang Kai visited the project site multiple times, encouraging everyone to uphold the spirit of struggle to ensure the smooth progress of the project.
The Party Working Committee and Management Committee of Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone established a special working group, providing "tracking" and "nanny" style services in aspects such as filing and approval, land acquisition and demolition, and construction permits, comprehensively promoting the construction of the Zhengzhou International Land Port. The Henan International Logistics Hub Construction and Operation Company innovatively promoted the construction of the land port and investment promotion in an integrated manner. China Railway Construction Corporation dispatched additional manpower, operated on a "three-shift" basis, and "burning the midnight oil" became the norm.
At around 10 o'clock on June 16, 2024, with the successful laying of the last pair of 25-meter-long rails, the task of laying the entire dedicated line was completed more than 10 days ahead of the original schedule.
Revitalizing advantages and the rise of hub economy
Revitalizing advantages and transforming transportation location advantages into hub economic advantages means relying on hub functions to optimize the spatial and temporal allocation of economic factors such as people, goods, information, and capital, reshaping the spatial division of labor in the industry, comprehensively improving the quality and efficiency of economic operation, and promoting the better and faster integration of regional economy into the global economy.
In other words, the Zhengzhou International Land Port aims to "attract" companies with its railway, attract industries with its companies, and drive the economy with its industries.
Zhengzhou BYD has successfully settled in. The project broke ground in 37 days and was successfully put into production in 17 months. In 2023, in less than 9 months, 200,000 new energy vehicles were produced, creating a "new speed" for the construction of the BYD project.
A complete new energy vehicle industry chain and industrial cluster have emerged. Core components such as batteries led by Feidi, automobile electronic industry chain represented by Tianmai Technology, and the automotive aftermarket industry chain represented by Uxin and Jerry Environmental Protection are accelerating their establishment... Zhengzhou Aviation Port is striving to build a city of one million new energy vehicles and a new energy vehicle industry cluster worth hundreds of billions.
The Zhengzhou International Bulk Commodity Trading Center with a total investment of over 47.5 billion yuan has come, Baihui Square project has come, Red Star Meikailong Shopping Center has come, and Zhongzhou Huayue five-star hotel has come...
By 2025, the Zhengzhou International Land Port will achieve the integration of railwayand customs, unity of region and port, aggregate resources, and support the operation of international trains to reach 5,000 trips; by 2030, the comprehensive service capacity of the Zhengzhou International Land Port's international logistics and the driving force of the industrial belt will be comprehensively improved, supporting and guaranteeing an annual business volume of "tens of thousands of trains and tens of millions of tons"; by 2035, it will have built a world-class international railway hub port with global influence.
Just as the camel bells rang along the ancient Silk Road, today the "engine" of the international land port roars incessantly. A higher-level inland opening up to a higher level and higher tier is expected in the future. Run, Zhengzhou International Land Port! Run, "locomotive"! (Chinese source: Henan Daily Reporter: Yang Ling, Zhao Tongzeng & Gao Liguo Translator: Wen Xiaomei & Yang Jiaxin Proofreader: Wen Xiaomei & Zhao Hanqing)
