China's first sea-air intermodal transshipment arrangement directly connecting a logistics park to an airport's airside, the Dongguan-Hong Kong International Airport Logistics Park, has handled the shipment of goods worth more than 23 billion yuan since it was launched two years ago, announced Huangpu Customs on Friday.
The Logistics Park has promoted complementary advantages and seamless logistics connectivity within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area since it went into operation on April 18, 2023.
In the past few days, a shipment of rail screw machines completed customs clearance, aviation security checks, and palletizing at the Logistics Park before being shipped by sea to Hong Kong International Airport, from where it was flown directly to Southeast Asia.
"The Logistics Park can help companies save up to 30 percent of total logistics costs. Right now, from the moment goods are handed over to the Logistics Park to the time they're loaded on a plane, the whole process can be completed within14 hours at best. Once dedicated high-speed cargo vessels are in operation, logistics time can be further reduced by another two or three hours," said Wen Yuanyun, vice president of Dongguan Port Air Freight Supply Chain Co., Ltd.
The Logistics Park connects regulations and systems between Guangdong Province, in which the city of Dongguan is located, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, extending key cargo handling functions of Hong Kong International Airport into Dongguan, which enables direct air cargo export loading and import unloading. "Besides local Dongguan companies, companies in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan have also come to us to ship their goods out through the center. This year we've been handling and palletizing about 1,000 tons of cargo each month. That's a tenfold increase of business volume from two years ago, and our clients have more than quadrupled," said Li Zheyan, vice president of Dongguan Jinming International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd.
Currently, the Logistics Park handles over 1,000 types of goods with a shipment capacity of 24,000 tons, accelerating global access for manufacturers across the Greater Bay Area.
Dongguan-HK airport park handles 23 bln yuan of goods
Voices of opposition from media and political circles are growing in Japan, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reaffirmed her intention to revise the country's postwar pacifist Constitution on Sunday.
Major newspapers published editorials condemning the move, highlighting widespread street protests fueled by public anxiety that Japan could abandon its peacekeeping role and become an aggressor nation.
The outlets stressed that the postwar pillars of peace and sovereignty must not be forgotten.
Politicians have also voiced sharp criticism on social media.
A senator said the Constitution, particularly Article 9, has acted as a crucial barrier preventing reckless actions like deploying troops to the Middle East.
A former lawmaker said forgetting history invites crisis, while a sitting legislator has condemned the effort as an attempt to turn the nation into a "war profiteer" at the expense of citizens' lives.
Takaichi, on Sunday, the country's Constitution Memorial Day, reaffirmed her intention to revise the Constitution.
Speaking in a video message to a gathering of revision proponents, Takaichi stressed that the postwar supreme law, which serves as the foundation of the country, "should be periodically updated in accordance with the demands of the times," the Kyodo News reported.
Takaichi said that her ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would "advance discussions in the Diet (Japan's parliament) aimed at reaching decisions while securing the cooperation of other parties."
Japan's Constitution, which took effect in 1947, is often referred to as the pacifist Constitution because its Article 9 renounces war as a sovereign right and prohibits Japan from possessing "war potential."
Takaichi is pushing for the first-ever change to the Constitution. According to the Kyodo News, possible amendments include revisions to Article 9, the clause widely seen as the cornerstone of Japan's postwar pacifist stance.
Just weeks ago, at an LDP convention on April 12, Takaichi declared that "the time has come" to reform the Constitution, saying that "we would like to hold next year's convention with a proposal for a constitutional amendment in sight," a move that has triggered deep concern and large-scale protests in Japan.
Opposition voices rise in Japan against revision of pacifist constitution
