Chongqing reports surging cross-border highway freight service in H1

CHONGQING - Southwest China's Chongqing municipality saw its cross-border highway freight service grow significantly in the first half of 2021, local authorities said.

From January to June, a total of 1,666 trucks transported goods worth about 997 million yuan ($154.01 million), up 70 percent and 107 percent year-on-year, respectively, data from Chongqing Highway Logistics Base showed.

Chongqing's cross-border highway freight service launched in 2016. It mainly caters to countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It greatly reduced transportation time compared with sea freight.

Auto and motorcycle parts made in Chongqing and surrounding regions have been transported directly to Southeast Asia, while grain, oil, and timber produced in southeastern Asia have been transported to Chongqing and central and western China.

This year, Chongqing launched new highway cross-border freight routes that link the inland city with Vientiane, the capital of Laos, as well as Kyrgyzstan.

Greater Mekong Subregion temporary entry documents have been issued for motor vehicles on the Chongqing-Vientiane route. With the new permission, trucks from China are authorized non-stop access to their destinations without having to switch to local trucks at borders.

At present, the Chongqing cross-border highway freight service operates nine routes to ASEAN countries and Central Asia.