Xi gives 'confidence' at Chongqing port

Guoyuan improvements to slash costs, create important link in Belt and Road

In 2013, Shaanxi Iron and Steel (Group) Co had begun to talk with Chongqing's Guoyuan port about setting up a bulk trading center in western China to reduce costs and risks in the iron ore market. The port, a gateway to a vast inland area, lies near the headwaters of the Yangtze River.

But the project remained in talks until Communist Party of China General Secretary Xi Jinping visited in January 2016. The two sides sped up the project and started construction of the trading center on June 22.