Hunan's intl land port to drive inland opening-up
Wei zhaohui
A senior official in Huaihua, Hunan province, said the city will leverage the development of its international land port to drive progress and establish itself as a beacon of reform and opening-up in China's inland regions.
Wei Zhaohui, the mayor of Huaihua and a member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said the city — the sole Association of Southeast Asian Nations freight consolidation center in the province — has evolved from a peripheral area to occupying the forefront of China's opening-up efforts and positioning itself in the vanguard of national development.
Huaihua is a crucial transportation hub connecting Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou provinces, Chongqing and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. It serves as a vital link between central and western China and members of ASEAN. It is also a key intersection within the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the Shanghai-Kunming international trade corridor.
The city's transportation network has undergone a remarkable transformation. "Previously, it took nearly half a day for goods to travel to Changsha. Nowadays, Huaihua operates 200 international and domestic logistics routes, reaching 69 countries and 216 ports," Wei said.
At the heart of this transformation is the Huaihua International Land Port, a national-level logistics hub. Launched in 2021, the port connects to global supply chains via rail-sea intermodal services linking Beibu Gulf Port, Guangzhou Port and the China-Laos Railway, emerging as an ASEAN freight hub serving China's central and western regions.
Wei noted that the city handles 70 percent of the corridor's ASEAN-bound cargo. Freight train services surged from just 17 in 2021 to 1,220 last year.
Huaihua now leads central China in China-Laos Railway freight services, and its railway cold chain transport systems rank first in scale among inland ports. The city's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume has also skyrocketed. Its foreign trade network has expanded to 169 countries and regions.
"This year marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period," Wei said. "Huaihua will adopt a higher vision and more concrete actions, taking the international land port as a breakthrough to strengthen its role as a hub."
According to Wei, the city will accelerate the development of a comprehensive multimodal transport system, advance the Huaihua-Guilin high-speed railway, and improve inter-provincial expressways. It will also streamline customs clearances with Guangxi ports and promote favorable freight policies.
"We will expedite the development of a world-class international land port and develop new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses," Wei said.
Zhu Youfang contributed to this story.
Contact the writers at zhangli@chinadaily.com.cn
?報(bào)道中文版：
以國際陸港建設(shè)為引擎 奮力打造內(nèi)陸地區(qū)改革開放高地標(biāo)志性工程
——訪全國政協(xié)常委，懷化市委副書記、市長韋朝暉
編者按：《中國日報(bào)》“中國式現(xiàn)代化的地方實(shí)踐”（National Vision, Local Action）高端訪談欄目，講述中國式現(xiàn)代化建設(shè)道路上的地方特色實(shí)踐。3月12日，《中國日報(bào)》兩會專版刊發(fā)全國政協(xié)常委，懷化市委副書記、市長韋朝暉專訪文章《Huaihua: Forging a New Highland for High-Level Opening-Up in Inland China（以國際陸港建設(shè)為引擎 奮力打造內(nèi)陸地區(qū)改革開放高地標(biāo)志性工程）》。
韋朝暉在專訪中表示，懷化作為西部陸海新通道核心樞紐、湖南唯一面向東盟的貨運(yùn)集結(jié)中心，將立足區(qū)位優(yōu)勢，加快國際陸港建設(shè)，奮力打造內(nèi)陸地區(qū)改革開放高地標(biāo)志性工程。
“懷化將以國際陸港建設(shè)為引擎，加快推動高質(zhì)量發(fā)展，奮力打造內(nèi)陸地區(qū)改革開放高地標(biāo)志性工程?！比珖f(xié)常委，懷化市委副書記、市長韋朝暉接受中國日報(bào)專訪時表示。
她強(qiáng)調(diào)，作為湖南省唯一的東盟貨物集結(jié)中心，懷化已從邊緣地區(qū)發(fā)展成為中國對外開放的戰(zhàn)略前沿，成為服務(wù)國家戰(zhàn)略的先鋒力量。
懷化位于湖南西南部，是連接湖南、湖北、重慶、貴州和廣西五?。▍^(qū)、市）的重要交通樞紐，是中國中西部地區(qū)與東盟之間的關(guān)鍵紐帶，也是西部陸海新通道和滬昆通道交匯點(diǎn)。
該市的交通網(wǎng)絡(luò)發(fā)生了顯著變革?！耙郧?，貨物運(yùn)往省會長沙需要半天時間。如今，懷化運(yùn)營著200條國際和國內(nèi)物流線路，覆蓋69個國家和216個港口?！表f朝暉介紹。
發(fā)生這一變革的核心是懷化國際陸港的建設(shè)——這是一個國家級的物流樞紐，設(shè)有8個功能區(qū)，包括公鐵聯(lián)運(yùn)、保稅物流等。該陸港于2021年啟動運(yùn)營，2022年加入西部陸海新通道“13+2”省際協(xié)商合作機(jī)制，成為服務(wù)中西部地區(qū)對接?xùn)|盟的貨運(yùn)樞紐，通過連接北部灣港、廣州港和中老鐵路的鐵海聯(lián)運(yùn)服務(wù)，接入全球供應(yīng)鏈。
韋朝暉表示，作為西部陸海新通道的核心樞紐，懷化承擔(dān)著該通道70%的東盟方向貨運(yùn)量。貨運(yùn)列車運(yùn)營量從2021年的17列激增至2025年的1220列。目前，懷化國際陸港的中老鐵路貨運(yùn)量居華中地區(qū)首位。
在跨境冷鏈物流領(lǐng)域，懷化國際陸港已建成智能冷鏈物流中心，為東盟水果進(jìn)口和云南蔬菜入湘提供便利，2025年鐵路冷鏈運(yùn)輸規(guī)模位居內(nèi)陸港口第一，成為懷化國際陸港的標(biāo)志性特色。該市跨境電子商務(wù)進(jìn)出口額實(shí)現(xiàn)爆發(fā)式增長，外貿(mào)網(wǎng)絡(luò)已拓展至169個國家和地區(qū)。
“2026年是‘十五五’規(guī)劃的開局之年。懷化將以更高站位、更實(shí)舉措，以國際陸港為突破口，強(qiáng)化樞紐功能?！表f朝暉說。
該市將加快構(gòu)建綜合多式聯(lián)運(yùn)體系，推進(jìn)懷桂高鐵建設(shè)，打通中西部地區(qū)通往廣西北部灣港、友誼關(guān)口岸的直達(dá)通道，完善湘黔、湘桂邊境省際高速公路。同時，開通常態(tài)化國際貨運(yùn)列車，加快建設(shè)五省邊際區(qū)域性中心城市，實(shí)現(xiàn)五省邊境地區(qū)1小時通勤、半天可達(dá)、全域聯(lián)通。
懷化將深化“13+2”機(jī)制下的合作，優(yōu)化與廣西口岸的通關(guān)流程，對接《區(qū)域全面經(jīng)濟(jì)伙伴關(guān)系協(xié)定》（RCEP）、《全面與進(jìn)步跨太平洋伙伴關(guān)系協(xié)定》（CPTPP）等高水平國際經(jīng)貿(mào)規(guī)則，推廣優(yōu)惠貨運(yùn)政策。
“未來，懷化將加快建設(shè)一流國際陸港，拓展覆蓋東北亞、歐亞大陸、東盟、非洲和俄羅斯的物流網(wǎng)絡(luò)，培育外向型企業(yè)，發(fā)展跨境電子商務(wù)、海外倉等外貿(mào)新業(yè)態(tài)?！表f朝暉表示。
