Contribute to the high-level construction of a new land-sea corridor in the western region

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has visited Guangxi three times and made important instructions on Guangxi's work. Among them, the general secretary has repeatedly exhorted "to jointly build a new land and sea corridor in the western region at a high level", which has put forward clear requirements and pointed out the direction of efforts for Guangxi to actively serve and integrate into the new development pattern. Guangxi should bravely undertake the historical mission, deeply study and carefully understand the important requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping's exposition on Guangxi's work, jointly build a new land-sea corridor in the western region at a high level, and promote high-quality development.

Bright direction, make good use of the high-level joint construction of the new western land-sea corridor "bridge and ship"

The construction of the new land-sea corridor in the western region is a major strategic deployment made by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core. Guangxi should firmly grasp the "rudder of the ship" for jointly building a new land-sea corridor in the western region at a high level and implement the "construction drawings" well.

We should firmly grasp the "rudder of the ship" for jointly building a new land-sea corridor in the western region at a high level. The important requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping's exposition on Guangxi's work, with a grand overall vision and profound strategic vision, closely link the development of Guangxi with the overall development of the country, the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, the grand goal of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and the overall situation of the great rejuvenation strategy of the Chinese nation. Focus points and breakthroughs to provide fundamental guidance for Guangxi's new journey of modernization. Guangxi's transportation department must always adhere to the important requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping's exposition on Guangxi's work as the "outline" and "goal" of carrying out various tasks, and promote high-quality development.

Implement the "construction drawings" for jointly building a new land-sea corridor in the western region. Guangxi is the gateway to the intersection of land and sea in the new western land-sea corridor. In undertaking new strategic tasks, it is necessary to build the Pinglu Canal with high standards and high quality, build an international gateway port in the Beibu Gulf at a high level, and improve the multimodal transport capacity and automation level of the river, rail and sea. Actively serve the construction of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, create a convenient place for domestic and international dual circulation market operations, and deeply integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative. In terms of building a modern industrial system, it is necessary to build, manage and operate the Beibu Gulf port well, and make more contributions to the development of Guangxi, the construction of the "Belt and Road" and the expansion of opening up and cooperation with first-class facilities, first-class technology, first-class management and first-class service. In terms of service integration into the new development pattern, it is necessary to take the initiative to connect with major national strategies such as the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, integrate into the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", jointly build a new land-sea corridor in the western region at a high level, vigorously develop the seaward economy, better transform the unique location advantage into an open development advantage, and make greater breakthroughs in service and integration into the new development pattern. In terms of actively serving the national strategy, it is necessary to connect with the new industrial layout of developed coastal areas, undertake the gradient transfer of industries in an orderly manner, accelerate the development and opening up of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the Pearl River-Xijiang Economic Belt, and build Guangxi into an important strategic hinterland of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This is consistent, interconnected, and advancing with the times, pointing out the practical path for Guangxi's high-level joint construction of a new land-sea corridor in the western region, and clarifying the focus of efforts. The transportation departments of the whole region must systematically study, integrate and comprehend, comprehensively grasp, and implement the "construction drawings" well.

Qinzhou Railway Container Center Station is loading and unloading cargo. Feng Rongquan/photo

Grasp the implementation and promote the joint construction of the new land-sea corridor in the western region to "bear fruit"

In 2023, the trains of the new land-sea corridor in western Guangxi will transport a total of 861,000 TEUs of goods, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%. The new western land-sea corridor has covered 145 stations in 70 cities in 18 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country, and goods flow to 495 ports in 120 countries and regions around the world.

Open up the "big channel". Consolidating infrastructure is the primary part of jointly building a new land-sea corridor in the western region. Focusing on the major layout of the country and the autonomous region, the transportation department of the autonomous region has promoted the construction of a number of major infrastructure projects. The construction of the Pinglu Canal, the backbone project of the new western land-sea channel, has been fully accelerated, and the 3,000-ton waterway project from Nanning (Niuwan) to Guigang of the Xijiang shipping trunk line is about to start. The landmark project of the new western land-sea corridor - the construction of the Yellow Bucket to Baise railway, and the opening of the Guiyang-Nanning high-speed railway, fully realize the city-to-city high-speed rail bullet train. The Guangxi section of the three main expressways of the expressway has been fully connected, and the county-to-county expressway has been fully realized, and the construction of the last "breakpoint" section of the Nanning-Hanoi expressway has been started. The construction of a gateway hub for ASEAN and an international air cargo hub has been accelerated. A total of 49 land passages out of the province and out of the sea have been built, and more than 5 connecting channels have been realized with neighboring provinces and countries.

Build a strong "big hub". The gateway hub port is an important window for the opening up of the new western land-sea corridor. The overall plan of Beibu Gulf Port will be approved soon, and 31 projects such as public infrastructure, railway and highway collection and distribution facilities in Guangxi will be included in the relevant national "14th Five-Year Plan"; A number of port and shipping facilities projects such as the country's first sea-rail intermodal automated container terminal have been completed and put into operation, with the capacity to berth 200,000-ton container ships and 300,000-ton oil tankers, and the international gateway port hub has begun to take shape. Since 2021, Guangxi has completed 125 review items such as application for port shoreline use, preliminary project design, and construction drawing design, and port public services are developing in the direction of convenience, quality, and safety.

Weave a dense "big network". The comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network is an important support for the high-level joint construction of a new land-sea corridor in the western region. Focusing on the goal of building a strong transportation area that is "at the forefront of the country and leading in the west", Guangxi has basically formed a highway channel framework with Nanning as the center to connect various cities and "connect rivers and seas, provinces and borders, and important hub nodes", build a high-speed rail traffic circle with the capital Nanning to reach all districted cities within 3 hours, and realize the full coverage of container routes in ASEAN countries and major coastal ports in the country, and the number of domestic air passenger routes has increased by 295. The all-round and three-dimensional transportation network based on railways and highways, supported by water and air transportation, is becoming more and more perfect.

Smooth "big logistics". The smooth flow of goods is an important part of jointly building a new land-sea corridor in the western region. In 2023, Guangxi's operating passenger volume and freight volume will increase by 47.2% and 7% year-on-year, respectively. The freight volume of railways and civil aviation is 17.9% and 10.2% ahead of the national average, the passenger and freight traffic volume of railways has exceeded 100 million, and the cargo and container throughput of Beibu Gulf Port ranks among the top 10 in the country. The total business volume, express business volume and delivery volume of the postal industry increased by 18.9%, 23.3% and 12.2% respectively year-on-year; The number of rail-sea intermodal trains in Guangxi exceeded 9,000, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%, and the level of transportation services continued to improve.

Seek innovation and strive to write a "new chapter" in transportation practice

Expanding the opening up to the outside world is the chess piece to invigorate Guangxi's high-quality development. In December last year, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Guangxi, he made an important instruction to "continue to expand the opening up to the outside world", requiring Guangxi to actively plan the transportation support role of the domestic and international dual-cycle market operation convenience.

Build a comprehensive transportation corridor that "connects the two Guangzhous, Hong Kong and Macao, and ASEAN". Guided by the high-level joint construction of a new land-sea corridor in the western region, we will speed up the implementation of a number of major transportation infrastructure projects. Optimize the large channel, smooth the large circulation, improve the level of interconnection of regional transportation infrastructure, and go all out to open up the pain points of the seaward channel, dredge the blockage points of the golden waterway, connect the nodes of the border channel, and smooth the breakpoint of the provincial channel. Promote the construction of the Pinglu Canal with high standards and high quality, build an international gateway port in the Beibu Gulf at a high level, accelerate the strategic status of the Beibu Gulf Port as an international gateway port and an international hub seaport, accelerate the construction of projects such as the Guangxi section of the South-Shenzhen High-speed Railway, and help the development and opening up of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the Pearl River-Xijiang Economic Belt, so as to build Guangxi into an important strategic hinterland of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Build a high-quality and efficient transportation service system. It is necessary to promote the high-quality development of multimodal transport, and strive to promote the integration and connection of cross-transportation modes such as railway branch lines and hub stations; promote the resumption of international direct passenger and freight transport routes with Vietnam; Organize and carry out the creation of the second batch of multimodal transport service brands and key line projects. We will further implement preferential policies for differentiated toll collection on expressways, and promote the provision of guarantee services for eligible small and micro enterprises, individual industrial and commercial households, and truck drivers in the field of transportation and logistics. Promote the integrated development of transportation and related industries, accelerate the construction of a "fast-forward roaming" tourism transportation network, and transform transportation advantages into development advantages.

Build a modern transportation infrastructure system. In terms of highways, about 900 kilometers of newly built expressways will be opened to traffic, and the total mileage of expressways will exceed 10,000 kilometers. In terms of waterways, projects such as the No. 8 and No. 9 berths in the Shibu operation area of the West Port Area of Tieshan Port in Beihai Port have been completed, the preliminary work of the five-line ship lock project of the Changzhou Water Conservancy Hub has been accelerated, and the No. 9 to No. 11 berths in the Gaolingtou operation area of Guigang Port have been newly started. In terms of railways, the Nanning-Yulin railway has been completed, and the city-to-city high-speed railway has been historically realized. In terms of civil aviation, we will speed up the construction of projects such as the T3 terminal area and supporting facilities of Nanning Airport, and orderly promote the preliminary work of Hezhou Airport and Guigang Airport. In terms of postal services, we will accelerate the construction of regional international mail and logistics hubs open to ASEAN and cooperation, and vigorously promote the construction of a number of municipal-level postal express hubs and three-level postal express infrastructure in counties and villages.

Build a comprehensive and strict party governance system in the industry. We should persist in strengthening the party's overall leadership over the construction of the new land-sea corridor in the western region, strictly implement the "first topic" system and the collective study system, drive the whole system to strengthen theoretical study, and find good solutions and gather people's hearts through ideological refining and deep study and conviction. Comprehensively promote the study and education of party discipline, carry out discipline education and warning education on a regular basis, strictly enforce the party's political discipline and political rules, take the party's political life seriously, and resolutely correct political deviations. Improve the mechanism for the allocation of power and operational constraints, and enhance the effectiveness of supervision over the "number one" and the leading group.

(The author is Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Autonomous Region Department of Transportation, and Director of the Autonomous Region Railway Construction Office)