Chinese customs unveils measures to boost development of western regions

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Sunday unveiled 15 measures aimed at advancing the large-scale development of the country's western regions, with a particular focus on promoting openness.

The measures include support for the opening or expansion of ports in eligible areas in need, and the exploration of further measures to facilitate intermodal river-sea and rail-sea transportation.

Additionally, GAC plans to support the construction of international aviation hubs in cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi'an and Urumqi, while promoting the export of specialty agricultural products from the country's western regions.

China has been committed to boosting the development of its western regions through greater openness and the expansion of opening-up within the country and to the outside world.

A key example of this work is the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a landmark logistics network connecting China's western regions to global markets, particularly those in ASEAN.

In 2024, the corridor reached a significant milestone by handling over 10,000 intermodal rail-sea train journeys, facilitating the transport of 87,846 twenty-foot equivalent units to and from RCEP member countries, a 32 percent year-on-year increase.

According to GAC data, the total imports and exports of China's western regions surged from 2.96 trillion yuan (about 412 billion US dollars) in 2020 to 3.74 trillion yuan in 2023, representing an average annual growth rate of 8.5 percent.