SCODA aids in increasing trade volume between Qingdao, SCO member countries to 87.36 bln yuan in 2022

SCODA has enhanced its role as a logistics hub, and created multilateral economic and trade partnership platforms to facilitate two-way investment ties, business travel and cultural exchanges among member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, officials said.

SCODA stands for the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area.

President Xi Jinping said in June 2018 during the 18th meeting of the council of heads of member states of the SCO that the government supports the building of a demonstration area in Qingdao, Shandong province, for China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation.

"Local economic and trade cooperation is the fundamental mission of building the demonstration area, and must be firmly pursued," said Zhang Xinzhu, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee and secretary of SCODA's Party working committee. "Only by expanding, strengthening and improving the quantity and quality of trade can we provide the foundation for cooperation and solid support for serving China's opening-up."

The demonstration area has opened 31 regular international train routes, connecting 54 cities in 23 countries in the SCO or those involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The area has attracted more than 2,000 trade entities, increasing the trade volume between Qingdao and SCO countries from 36.13 billion yuan ($5 billion) in 2018 to 87.36 billion yuan in 2022, with an average annual growth of 24.2 percent.

Led by SCODA, Shandong achieved a trade volume of 162.3 billion yuan with SCO countries in the first five months of this year, an increase of 57.3 percent over the same period last year, according to statistics from the Qingdao Customs authority.

In 2022, the container throughput of the area reached 279,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, an increase of 5.4 percent year-on-year.

On May 12, a China-Europe freight train carrying 150 domestically manufactured vehicles left the demonstration area's multimodal transport center for Horgos Port in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, to its destination in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan. It was the first China-Europe freight train from SCODA carrying complete vehicles, although the route opened as early as 2018 and has so far made more than 1,000 trips.

The demonstration area has built a comprehensive public service platform for multimodal transport, enabling data coordination and one-stop information services for railways, seaports, airports, land ports, Customs, government affairs and other authorities, and providing logistics support for multilateral economic and trade cooperation within the SCO, said Zang Yuanqi, an official at the administrative committee responsible for industrial development.

Lu Junlin, who had spent many years in Zhejiang province doing cross-border e-business, started a company in the demonstration area in June 2021. He said it was the logistics and trade facilitation brought about by innovation that pushed him to start the business.

"It used to take 55 to 60 days for the goods to be shipped to Russia, but now it takes only 15 days using the China-Europe freight train from the multimodal transport center of the demonstration area," he said. "At the same time, in the area's cross-border e-commerce supervision center, more than 50 declaration items can be reduced thanks to its streamlined declaration mode, making cross-border e-commerce more convenient."

The company's business "grew rapidly, with export value reaching more than $61 million last year", Lu said.

Jiaozhou hub port

To further strengthen the demonstration area's function as a logistics hub for SCO countries, Qingdao's Jiaozhou — where SCODA is located — is building an international hub port that integrates railways, seaports, airports and land ports.

In December 2022, Jiaozhou was granted the United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations — commonly known as the UN/LOCODE — by the UN Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business. This means the international hub port has officially become a port of departure/destination for international transportation.

"Previously, without the code, Customs clearance of goods was slow, and booking shipping space was inconvenient," said Sang Shibiao, an official for logistics service promotion in Jiaozhou. "Now, with the help of the code, there is more support in terms of Customs policy, shipping company departure policy and so on. It can save two or three days' time for enterprises in the above links alone."

The improved logistics services, trade facilitation policies and measures have been welcomed by international partners.

Aleksey Teksler, governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast in Russia, said: "We are an industrial area with very convenient logistics, and SCODA is also a logistics hub, so we can actively engage in exchanges. Through working with the demonstration area, I see regional cooperation, logistics collaboration and, ultimately, shared economic growth as the most valuable aspects."

The demonstration area has developed a China-SCO Comprehensive Service Platform for Local Economic and Trade Cooperation — or the SCOCSP — to provide one-stop solutions for economic and trade cooperation between enterprises in China and other SCO countries, as well as a full-cycle comprehensive service system for trade enterprises.

In November last year, the first batch of 3,000 metric tons of Afghan pine nuts completed Customs clearance, commodity inspection, transportation, insurance and other businesses on the platform, and it took only 15 days to arrive at the Chinese warehouse, significantly lowering the time taken previously.

"It can be understood as an online version of a 'super home port', so that enterprises no longer need to 'feel the stones to cross the river' when confused by laws and trade rules of different countries," said Zhang Dong, deputy director of the administrative committee of SCODA. "The platform is a full-cycle, full-factor, full-industrial chain service platform integrating trade, Customs clearance, logistics and finance, and is also a China International Trade Single Window."

More than 5,000 companies have so far registered on the platform, with 539 certified suppliers and 136 certified purchasers.

Qingdao-based electric power equipment manufacturer Tgood gets more than 30 percent of its overseas business from Russia and Central Asian countries, and the sector is growing fast. Thanks to high-quality products, advanced technologies, good service and innovative business models, the market potential is huge, said the company's Chairman Yu Dexiang.

"We can judge the market situation accurately because we have registered on the SCOCSP, so we can communicate with our overseas clients directly," he said. "In the past, these information channels were in the hands of only a few large enterprises, and Tgood could only be a follower."

In addition to breaking down information barriers, the platform can also provide full-chain services to help more enterprises explore the international market independently, he added.

Fakhriddin Boboev, chairman of Uzbekistan's leather industry association Uzcharmsanoat, said SCODA can solve problems in trade, logistics and finance in one go, thanks to the SCOCSP, which allows more efficient economic and trade cooperation.

He said in the future, both sides will cooperate closely on the platform, which will enhance economic and trade development of the two countries.

There are other trade-facilitating mechanisms in SCODA, such as the Qingdao International Energy Exchange.

As an online trading platform, the center focuses on three main services — energy trading, supply chain finance and digital services. It has also launched trading in six products — crude oil, crude oil tank capacity, natural gas, fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and petroleum coke.

xiechuanjiao@chinadaily.com.cn