With joint efforts by provincial-level regions in western China, Singapore and other Southeast Asian economies, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor was launched in September 2017 to boost the development of China and ASEAN.

Guangxi's first 300,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) crude oil terminal at Qinzhou Port opened for commercial operation in 2021. The VLCC capacity berth is the largest crude oil terminal in Guangxi province and a key project for the development of the corridor.

The oil terminal is able to accommodate one 300,000 dwt tanker and one 100,000 dwt tanker simultaneously, with a maximum annual handling capacity of around 20m tons per year.

The number of rail-sea intermodal trains traveling through Beibu Gulf hit 4,607 in 2020, skyrocketing 105 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the quality of infrastructure construction and logistics services has advanced steadily during the construction of the corridor, according to Zhou Xiaoqi, a National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) official, at a press conference.

The corridor has been gaining steam as its rail-to-sea routes offer a faster and cheaper freight transportation option between western China and other countries and regions.

Cooperation in international trade, logistics and financial services has also been facilitated among countries and regions along the corridor, according to the NDRC.