June 15, 2023
The “New Western Land-Sea Corridor” is a new concept in the logistic map of China developed in recent years. Would it work? What is its implications for Thailand? Prof. Dr.Tang Zhimin, the director of CASPIM, discussed with officials of Guiyang Free Trade Zone, one hub in the corridor, during their visit in PIM last week.
The “New Western Land-Sea Corridor” (⻄部陆海新通道) was formally named in an overall plan by the country’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in 2019. It is designed to link Chongqing (重庆) and Chengdu (成都) through key logistics hubs such as Guiyang (贵阳)、Kunming (昆明) and Nanning (南宁) by railways, with Beibu Gulf ports (北部湾港⼝) as well Yangpu Port (洋浦港) in the south (see graph above). The rail-sea intermodal transportation reached 0.3 million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) in 2022 and is planned to reach 0.5 million TEU by 2025. By the same year, the throughput capacity of Beibu Gulf ports and Yangpu Port will also be expanded to 10 million and 5 million TEU respectively.
The corridor opens a new door for ASEAN countries to enter the vast market of Western China. The NDRC plan defines the corridor as 13+1 geographic units: which means 5 provincial units in South West (Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet); 5 provincial units in North West (Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Ningxia) plus provincial units of Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Hainan and Zhanjiang city of Guangdong province.
The corridor is also an entrance to Europe and Central Asia through China Europe Railway (CR Express), and it connects to the Yangtze River Passage linking East Coast economic power houses such as Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (see graph above).
Thai exporters may save time and money by using the the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. They may be connected to the corridor by sea (from Laem Chabang Port in Thailand to Beibu Gulf ports), through the new China Laos Railway (reaching Kunming by Mohan (磨憨) on the border between China and Laos, or through road and rail connections by Dongxing (东兴)、Pingxiang (凭祥)、Hekou (河⼝) on the border between China and Vietnam.