Banan Urban area

Cross-border highway buses loaded with "Chongqing Made" general machinery drove out from Chongqing Nanpeng Highway Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) Photo/Liu Jimei

In the early morning, at the Nanpeng Highway Bonded Logistics Center, cross-border highway buses loaded with "Made in Chongqing" products are ready to start their "Southeast Asia Journey".

Such scenes have become the norm in Banan. In 2025, the annual traffic volume of cross-border highway shuttle buses on the Western Land-Sea New Corridor exceeded the 10000 mark for the first time, with a value of 17.417 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 306%. The region's total import and export volume was 15.89 billion yuan, an increase of 20%; The throughput of logistics hubs in commercial service-oriented countries exceeded 32 million tons; at the China (Chongqing)-ASEAN Logistics Industry Cooperation Conference, 21 cooperation agreements were successfully signed...

From opening up channels to expanding economic and trade, from gathering industries to innovating systems, Banan has used a set of "combination punches" to practice the development logic of "channels bring logistics, logistics bring economy and trade, and economy and trade bring industry" to build inland areas in Chongqing. On the new journey of the international cooperation leading zone, Banan has handed over a heavy answer.

Weaving dense road network to build a strong hub

Banan District is located in the southeast of Chongqing's central Urban area. How does such an inland Urban area rely on to deliver goods to thousands of households in the Indochina Peninsula?

The answer lies in the cross-border shuttle bus that comes in and out every day.

In the past, when companies wanted to send goods abroad, they often had to go through several ports, and the procedures were one after another, which was too time-consuming. Nowadays, in Banan's three-dimensional logistics network, goods can go all the way to the end once they are loaded on the bus. One consignment and one ticket are direct, doubling the efficiency.

Highway channels were the first to accelerate. As one of the three major transportation methods of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, the cross-border highway shuttle bus has built a network system of "3 directions, 12 lines, 25 ports and 39 overseas distribution warehouses" with its advantages of "efficiency, flexibility and safety". It not only covers the Indochina Peninsula, but also extends to parts of Central and South Asia. In 2025, 12555 trains will be shipped, with a value of 17.417 billion yuan, and the total value of goods will be four times that of the same period in 2024.

Railway channels are also accelerating. Nanpeng Station on the East Ring Road of the hub operates cross-border trains, complementing the cross-border highway shuttle buses. In 2025, Nanpeng Station will operate 15 cross-border trains and 292 TEUs, with a value of 56.151 million yuan, driving the export of Banan automobile, motorcycle, general machinery and other industries.

Waterway channels also do not fall under wind. The renovation of bulk berths in Foeryan Port is progressing in an orderly manner, and Dongqi Wharf in Maliu Operation Area has obtained shoreline approval from the Ministry of Transport. Through multimodal transport of road, rail and water, goods can be transported by land, distributed by railway, and distributed by water in Banan.

Today, Banan's road network is getting denser and denser, and it is accelerating to become a "big hub" for inland opening up.

Goods flow, wealth comes in

Roads are open, cars are running away, and goods are circulating-the next step is to let wealth flow in.

Banan uses the four "national business cards" of "commercial service-oriented national logistics hub, national backbone cold chain logistics base, national demonstration logistics park, and national e-commerce demonstration base" to break through blockages.

The foreign trade service system is implemented step by step. Banan has established a national foreign trade transformation and upgrading base work service station, organized enterprises to participate in more than 100 domestic and foreign economic and trade activities, helping enterprises to "break their way" to the international market. The "administrative service steward" system has been implemented in place, and the coverage rate of corporate visits has reached 100%. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Banan District Commerce Committee said: "If enterprises have needs, we will respond."

The new business format is accelerating. The export of used cars has become a dark horse in Banan's foreign trade. Up to now, more than 20 enterprises with export qualifications have been cultivated and more than 4000 used cars have been exported, with a value of more than 500 million yuan. The person in charge of an export company said: "Now our goods travel by cross-border highway shuttle bus more than 20 days faster than by sea transportation. Logistics is faster, cash flow is increased, and of course we make more money." At the same time, Alibaba's local service center has built a full-chain comprehensive service platform for cross-border e-commerce to promote the development of "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt", with a cumulative transaction volume exceeding 1 billion yuan.

Platforms for open cooperation are also being upgraded. Chongqing RCEP Investment and Trade Service Center has 20 overseas branch centers, achieving full coverage of the RCEP region. In November 2025, the China (Chongqing)-ASEAN Logistics Industry Cooperation Conference was held in Banan, focusing on economic and trade cooperation in the fields of food and agricultural products, and reached a total of 21 cooperation agreements, covering the entire chain of ASEAN agricultural product planting, cross-border transportation, port distribution to processing, packaging, and marketing.

The data confirms the changes: in 2025, Banan's total import and export volume will be 15.89 billion yuan, an increase of 20%; the actual use of foreign investment will be 19.45 million US dollars, a surge of 13 times. Cross-border financing and RMB settlement also reached US$98 million and 2.98 billion respectively. When goods circulate, wealth really flows in.

The industry takes root and leaves passengers behind

With so many trucks coming in and out every day, if we just take a break and add gas, Banan is just a "passing stop".

Banan's purpose is clear: stop the car, unload the goods, and keep the people behind. Let channel advantages turn into industrial advantages, and let "traffic flow" become "development retention".

With the commercial service-oriented national logistics hub as the core carrier, more than 90 leading companies such as Jingdong, SF Express, and Shentong have gathered here, and the five major industrial clusters have developed in a coordinated manner. So far, the cumulative transaction volume has exceeded 750 billion yuan.

In 2025, the hub will introduce 18 newly signed projects, with an agreed investment amount of approximately 15.2 billion yuan. The integration of channels and industries is also getting deeper and deeper: cross-border highway buses accurately connect with Banan's advantageous industries, and tailor logistics solutions for Chongqing's notebooks, automobiles and motorcycles and other industries. Serving only the notebook industry, 3474 trains were operated that year, with a value of 12.413 billion yuan, which strongly supported Chongqing's notebook industry going abroad.

The Chongqing Xinfadi project is a vivid epitome. At present, the main construction of 600,000 square meters of the project has been completed, and agricultural products such as coconut and durian from Thailand and Indonesia can appear in supermarkets in Sichuan and Chongqing in the shortest possible time. This large man, which covers an area of more than a thousand acres and has a total investment of 12 billion yuan, not only brings logistics, but also promotes supporting industries such as surrounding packaging, processing, and cold chain, attracting more than 500 merchants to settle in.

In 2025, the commercial service-oriented national logistics hub in Banan District will achieve a throughput of 32.0018 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 12.05%; the domestic trade transaction volume will be 132.41 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.76%; and the foreign trade import and export volume will be approximately 3.1 billion yuan. The "flow" of the channel is accelerating its transformation into the "retention" of the industry, and the radiation power of the hub economy is getting stronger and stronger.

Institutional innovation can also connect rivers and seas inland

With the prosperity of the industry, people remain, and with the help of rules, we can not only run fast, but also "run far".

In 2025, Banan issued a local standard covering 588 terms in 4 categories, covering more than 80% of common transportation scenarios. This set of standards, known in the industry as the "instructions" for cross-border road transportation, fills a gap in domestic land trade rules. Currently, Banan is promoting its upgrading to a national standard and contributing "Banan experience" to the construction of the inland trade rules system.

In addition, Nanpeng B Insurance's "classified supervision" pilot project has also been implemented and effective. As the first batch of pilot projects in the country, bonded and non-bonded goods have been assembled in the same warehouse and shipped in the same vehicle. The assembly time has been shortened by 1 to 2 days, providing a demonstration for innovation in bonded business formats.

The integrated development model of "Channel + Economy, Trade and Industry" has been selected as a typical case of the construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor in 2024;"Serving the construction of an integrated chain of the notebook and electronics industry and creating a new engine for high-quality development of hub corridors" has been selected as a typical case of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor in 2025;"New Paradigm of Cross-Border Road Transportation" has been rated as the third batch of typical reform cases in the economic field in 2025... A series of institutional innovation results have formed a replicable and replicable "Banan Experience".

"If the channel is the skeleton, the system is the blood. Once institutional innovation is done well, the inland areas can still connect to the river and the sea." The relevant person in charge of Banan District said.

The next morning, when the first cross-border shuttle bus leaves the Nanpeng Highway Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) again, Banan's opening story will turn a new page.

Standing at a new starting point for the 15th Five-Year Plan, Banan's goals are clear and firm: to strengthen the cross-border road shuttle bus brand and weave a dense "public and hot metal" multimodal transport network; expand the export of used cars, cross-border e-commerce and other foreign trade new business formats; hold the ASEAN Logistics Industry Cooperation Conference, expand and open the "circle of friends"; promote the upgrading of local standards for land trade rules to national standards. This hub city in the inland hinterland is injecting a steady stream of new momentum into Chongqing's construction of an inland open international cooperation leading area at a more confident pace.

Source: Chongqing Daily, Chongqing City People's Government

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