China announced the first phase of its first sea-rail intermodal automated container terminal in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region went into operation on June 28 to meet the growing demand for sea-rail intermodal service in the market amid ongoing supply chain disruptions.

A ship loaded with goods from Indonesia became the first vessel to moor at the wharf in Qinzhou port. It left for Southeast Asia with China-made goods including auto parts, glass, and chemicals.

In its announcement, Chinese state media said the first phase, including two 100,000-metric-ton container berths, was designed to handle 1.02 million standard containers per year.

The second phase, including two 200,000-ton container berths, is under construction. With a handling capacity of 1.6 million standard containers a year, it is expected to become operational in 2023.

Surge in sea-rail intermodal service

Xinhua noted that the Beibu Gulf Port, including the ports of Qinzhou, Fangcheng, and Beihai, serves as an "important transit point" in the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a trade and logistics passage jointly built by western Chinese provincial regions and Singapore.

The corridor connects 14 provincial-level regions in China with 316 ports in 107 countries and regions around the world.

"The new container terminal was built to meet the transportation demand from the rapidly growing sea-rail intermodal service," the report said.

It noted that the number of trains operating within the sea-rail intermodal service of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor had surged from 178 in 2017 to 6,117 in 2021.

In the report, Xinhua noted that in the first five months of 2022, imports and exports with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries via Qinzhou port grew 28.6% year-on-year to 26.25 billion yuan (about US$3.9 billion).

It added that the automated wharf and improved customs-clearance service will also help facilitate trade with members of the China-led  Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.