China's new western land-sea corridor draws attention at supply chain expo

The ongoing second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing has seen heated discussions among global participants about China's new western land-sea corridor.

Themed "Connecting the World for a Shared Future", the expo runs from Tuesday to Saturday. As the world's first national-level exhibition focusing on supply chains, it has attracted close to 700 exhibitors from 69 countries and international organizations this year.

Among them is Maersk, a Danish logistics company, which provides trade services for global customers.

"We found we need to offer our customers as someone who can control the entire supply chain with great visibility. And if something goes wrong, we can actually find a plan B and help them out," said Jens Eskelund, North Asia chief representative of the company.

Eskelund spoke highly of China's role in the global supply chain and its rapid development over the past few decades.

"China has been on a fantastic ride, in particular, since China joined WTO in 2001. And today, China accounts for about one third of all containers exported in the whole world," Eskelund said.

Anchored in China's Chongqing and with key western provincial-level regions as critical nodes, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor employs a blend of rail, sea and road transport to connect with global destinations.

As a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative, this corridor is key to accelerating the development of China's less-developed western region.

"Trade growth and international connectivity have grown somewhat slower in inland cities. So it makes a lot of sense now that you begin to look at how you can make sure that these large and very dynamic cities in China's interiors are also getting connected to international trade lines," Eskelund said.

After five years of construction, the corridor now connects to 523 ports across 124 countries and regions.

In the first 10 months, China's total trade via the new western land-sea corridor amounted to 1.15 trillion yuan (about 158 billion U.S. dollars), up 8.8 percent year on year and exceeding the national average growth rate by 3.6 percentage points.

"In terms of the land-sea corridor, this is a new concept. So we're in the formative stage, but by having this kind of focus, and we're already discussing what we can do. And therefore, from west China point of view, there's an imperative, there's an incentive. It can break the inertia and make us do things," said John Mclean, chairman of China-UK Business Development Center.

"For the Maritime Silk Road and Belt and Road countries, the trade with them, the supply chain with them, actually, we are seeing a lot of changes. What we're seeing is that the Belt and Road countries' doors are actually opening up more and more. So, actually, I think this is something that we could leverage on in terms of the Belt and Road countries," said Benjamin Wong, head of transport and logistics, and industrials of Invest Hong Kong.

China's new western land-sea corridor draws attention at supply chain expo

China's new western land-sea corridor draws attention at supply chain expo

China's new western land-sea corridor draws attention at supply chain expo

China's new western land-sea corridor draws attention at supply chain expo

Uganda on Thursday announced the temporary suspension of flights to and from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following an outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease that has killed dozens of people.

Diana Atwine, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, said in a statement issued in Kampala that the National Task Force (NTF), chaired by Uganda's Vice President Jessica Alupo, had resolved to suspend all flights between Uganda and the DRC, with the measure taking effect within 48 hours.

The move follows the detection last week of two imported Ebola cases in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.

A 59-year-old Congolese man died from the virus at Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala, while the other patient remains in isolation at Mulago National Referral Hospital. A total of 127 contacts have been identified and are in institutional quarantine.

According to Atwine, the government has also temporarily suspended public passenger ferry services on the Semuliki River, cross-border bus operations and all public passenger transport between Uganda and the DRC for the next four weeks, while allowing the continued movement of goods and food supplies.

According to the ministry, weekly markets in border sub-counties across high-risk districts have also been suspended for four weeks.

The NTF has activated a series of preparedness and response measures, including the suspension of cultural celebrations and commemorative events that draw large crowds along the Uganda-DRC border.

Over the past 24 hours, health authorities in the DRC and the World Health Organization have reported a worsening outbreak across the central African nation, with around 600 suspected cases and 139 probable deaths recorded since the outbreak was officially declared on May 15.

Uganda suspends DRC flights amid efforts to prevent Ebola outbreak spillover