Chinese premier stresses efforts to build distribution hubs for bulk commodities

China

Chinese premier stresses efforts to build distribution hubs for bulk commodities

2026-05-27 21:23 Last Updated At：23:37

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for efforts to accelerate the building of hubs for the distribution of bulk commodities and important materials to ensure both development and security.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during trips to Zhoushan and Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province from May 25 to 27.

He emphasized the importance of doing a good job in regulating the reserves of bulk commodities and important materials, strengthening the functions of strategic guarantee, macro-control and responding to urgent needs, and improving the resilience of industrial and supply chains.

In Zhoushan, Li heard officials' reports on work related to petroleum and grain reserves, inspected reserve facilities, and inquired about the construction and operation of related projects.

Li said that building good reserves of bulk commodities and important materials is of great significance for the stability of the economy and society, as he urged efforts to push forward the construction of multiple types of reserve facilities and expand the reserve capacity.

He also called for technological innovation in reserve work and management to enhance the level of intelligence, and deepening the reform of systems and mechanisms to promote the coordinated operation of strategic reserves and commercial reserves.

At the Zhejiang Mercantile Exchange in Zhoushan, Li learned about progress in building a resource allocation hub and inquired about trading activities.

He urged efforts to build an integrated service platform, improve multi-category and full-chain trading services, and strengthen China's influence on global pricing mechanism.

Li then inspected the Ningbo Section of the Jintang undersea tunnel, and the Meishan port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, which has ranked first globally in cargo throughput for 17 consecutive years.

The 16.18-km undersea tunnel is a key facility for the Ningbo-Zhoushan high-speed railway and is set to be the world's longest undersea high-speed railway tunnel upon completion.

At the construction site of the undersea tunnel, the premier emphasized safe and green practices given the tunnel's complex geographic conditions, and urged strict quality control throughout the process.

At the port, Li observed unmanned container loading and unloading operations. Noting the port's strong advantages and leading role, he called for enhancing infrastructure and promoting multi-modal transport through sea, land, air and digital trade.

He also underscored the advancement of smart and digital transformation to boost throughput capacity and foster port-related industries, with the goal of building Ningbo-Zhoushan Port into a world-class port.

Japan's constitution revision, military buildup fuel regional tensions: lawyer

Japan's ongoing push to revise its pacifist constitution and expand military buildup escalate regional tension, warned Japanese lawyer Kyoko Oe, who urged adherence to pacifism and vigilance against the government's dangerous moves.

Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office last October, the Japanese government has renewed its push to revise the country's pacifist constitution and accelerated a series of military expansion measures, including increasing defense spending, deploying long-range missiles, and easing restrictions on arms exports.

Speaking on the dangerous policy shifts, Oe criticized the Takaichi administration for bypassing public will.

"We believe that when Japanese citizens are not demanding constitutional reform, pushing it forward through a parliamentary majority clearly violates the principle of popular sovereignty and the obligation to respect the constitution. Moreover, the content of the revision itself is extremely dangerous. [The government] is attempting to change pacifist principles of the Japanese constitution -- the most fundamental part -- and abandon basic concepts, including the renunciation of war and not maintaining military forces," said Oe.

The Japanese government has aggressively accelerated war readiness even under the current constitution, said Oe, adding that amending it will grant the Self-Defense Forces even greater freedom of action at the constitutional level.

"If the constitution is amended, the Self-Defense Forces will gain greater freedom of action at the constitutional level than they have now, and legal interpretations will develop in that direction. Even while the current constitution remains effective, the Japanese government has already forcibly advanced war preparations. For example, manufacturing long-range missiles, which were previously considered unacceptable to possess, and deploying them domestically; conducting joint war games and military exercises with the United States; and massively manufacturing and exporting weapons overseas," said Oe.

The lawyer also criticized Takaichi's provocative remarks on China, saying they have sharply strained bilateral ties and undermined peace and stability in the region.

"We believe that due to Takaichi's remarks made last November, China-Japan relations have become very tense and are deteriorating. Legal experts believe that Takaichi's remarks contain multiple obvious errors. Takaichi should frankly retract the relevant remarks and apologize. Only by building mutual trust with neighboring countries can we maintain our peace, and the peace of East Asia and even the peace of Asia. We believe that what the Takaichi administration is doing runs completely counter to what the Japanese people truly wish to achieve," Oe said.