Xi visits Wuhan New Port, boost for logistics expected

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan New Port's Yang­luo Container Port in Hubei Province Sunday morning, a move implying that the country's leaders will try to develop the logistics industry in Central and West China, analysts said.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Xi said cities along the Yangtze River, including Wuhan, should strengthen their cooperation, make inland shipping more effective and make the river basin a "golden waterway."

Xi's visit to Wuhan came shortly after Premier Li Ke­qiang's visit to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's Qinzhou Port on July 8.

Li said that Qinzhou Port should cooperate with the nearby Fangcheng and Beihai ports to create a diversified investment system that could work as a strategic hub for trade with Southeast Asian countries.

Wuhan New Port covers Wuhan, Ezhou, Huanggang and Xianning cities and aims to become a port transporting billions of containers.

The Yangluo port, which is part of Wuhan New Port, achieved a container throughput of 764,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year and 403,600 TEUs in the first half of 2013, Xinhua reported.

Zhu Lixu, an analyst with Xiangcai Securities, told the Global Times Sunday that the top officials' visits imply their determination to boost the logistics industry in West and Central China.

"Many production bases in the east are moving to Central and West China as the country's leaders are developing the inland regions' economies. So China has to make efforts to ensure that all goods produced inland will be able to be shipped out well and on time," Zhu said.

Tian Yun, editor-in-chief of the Macro China Information Network, agreed with Zhu, adding that "Wuhan connects China's west with the east" and is an ideal place for the country to start strengthening the logistics industry.