​Land-sea multimodal transport route boosts northeast Asia cooperation

The file photo shows work on a highway bridge project across the Heilongjiang River, also known as the Amur River in Russia, is progressing smoothly in Heihe, a border city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. [Photo: en.xfafinance.com]

A land-sea multimodal transportation route connecting China, Russia and South Korea is said to be enhancing economic development and boosting trade cooperation among northeast Asian countries. 

The Harbin-Suifenhe-Russia-Asia multimodal transportation route, started in 2016, is an important branch of the Belt and Road Initiative in northeast Asia.

Cargo trains on the route start out in Heilongjiang's capital, Harbin, through to Suifenhe, the largest port of the province to Russia, and then on to Vladivostok Port in Russia's Far East region, where the goods are loaded to vessels and shipped to southern and eastern China, as well as South Korea and Japan.

Fan Jizhong, general manager of a logistics firm in Suifenhe says the route has done quite a bit to expand their businesses.

"Relationship between logistics companies and target customers has been completely changed now on the route. In the early stages, we used to look for source of goods everywhere. As the operation of the land-sea route becomes more mature, now it is the source of goods that looks for us." 

Heilongjiang, the northernmost province in China, borders Russia's Far East region, which has rich resources.

The land-sea transportation route enables Heilongjiang to conduct sea transport from port of Russia, which can greatly shorten the transport distance and save cost.

The nearest domestic sea port for Suifenhe is the Port of Yingkou in Liaoning, which is 13-hundred kilometers away. 

Russia's Vladivostok Port is only 230 kilometers away from Suifenhe on the route. 

If goods bound for Shanghai are put out to sea from the port, the voyage can be shortened by more than 900-kilometers. 

Zhang Ming, deputy general manager of the Heilongjiang Land-Sea Route International Freight Forwarding Corporation.

"In terms of shipping costs, the route enjoys absolute advantages. According to conventional calculation, cost of shipping containers to Japan and South Korea from this route will be around 2,000 yuan, less than that from the Port of Dalian. Costs to ports in southern China would save about 4,000 yuan," 

Zhang Xiaoping, general manager of a wood company in Suifenhe says the route has also promoted upgrades to the Port of Suifenhe. 

"The smooth running of the land-sea multimodal transportation route has brought new opportunities of development and tangible benefits to local companies. It has reduced shipping costs and shortened the transportation cycle, giving goods with high added value the opportunity to go to Japan, South Korea as well as European and American markets."

To promote cross-border transportation, a bridge connecting China and Russia is under construction.

The 20 kilometers long bridge will connect the city of Heihe in Heilongjiang with Blagoveshchensk in Russia's Amur region on the other side of the Heilong River. 

The bridge is expected to be finished by the end of next year.