A new fast freight train service has significantly improved the transport of goods between inland cities and the Tianjin port in north China since its launch in January this year.
The Gangcheng (meaning port to city in English) Railway Express connects Tianjin port with multiple cities like Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Handan, and Taiyuan, among others. It was put into use on January 25.
Over the past three months, a total of 233 trains with 5,822 carriages, have been put into operation, transporting 291,100 tons of cargo.
An iron and steel company in Handan, north China's Hebei Province, has benefited greatly from the freight rail service. It has reduced transportation time for the company's steel products from five days to approximately 30 hours.
"With the Gangcheng Freight Express, the transportation period has been slashed from a maximum of five days to about 30 hours," said Wang Guohong, manager of the marketing department at the Shijiazhuang Railway Logistics Center.
"The transportation time for goods is fixed and this provides us with sufficient time to make our schedule effectively, from production to delivery and loading," said Wu Tao, manager of the business department of a logistics company branch in Handan under Hebei Iron and Steel Group.
Fast freight rail facilitates transportation between inland cities, Tianjin port
The ultra-long special treasury bonds newly issued by China will play a positive role in optimizing debt structure, stimulating investment and consumption, according to Chinese economists.
China will start to issue the first batch of one trillion yuan (about 140 billion U.S. dollars) ultra-long special treasury bonds on Friday to raise funds for major national strategies and build up security capacity in key areas.
The central debt sales will run from May through November. The bonds will include 20-year, 30-year and 50-year securities, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Monday.
"All underwriting institutions and investment entities can have clear expectations, which reflects the scientific nature of our financial management. On the basis of the first quarter, the ultra-long special treasury bonds will leverage social investment. It also has a positive effect on the capital arrangement and financial stability of the entire market," said Li Xuhong, vice president of Beijing National Accounting Institute.
Li said that judging from the main investment areas, the ultra-long special treasury bonds will be used exclusively for the implementation of major national strategies and the construction of security capabilities in key areas.
"For example, [our ultra-long special treasury bonds] support self-reliance in high-level science and technology, as well as our integrated urban and rural development, coordinated regional development, and food and energy security. In addition, we support the project of Building a Beautiful China. These are all key areas of our support," Li said.
Industry insiders said that ultra-long special treasury bonds are guaranteed by national credit and have the advantages of low risk and strong liquidity. In addition, the yield is higher than that of short and medium treasury bonds.
"Based on previous experience of issuing special government bonds, it is expected that the issuance interest rate will refer to the interest rate of relevant maturity government bonds in the secondary market. With the issuance of ultra-long special treasury bonds, the pace of fiscal expenditures will continue to accelerate, further boosting aggregate demand, and providing stronger support for people's livelihood and technological innovation, thus effectively supporting the continued improvement of the overall economic situation," said Gao Ruidong, chief economist at Everbright Securities.
Ultra-long treasury bonds to optimize debt structure, stimulate investment and consumption: experts
