Containers pile up at Guoyuan port, ready to be shipped out. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

The first quarter of 2021 saw Guoyuan port – in Liangjiang New Area, in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality?– handle 4.69 million metric tons of cargo, a year-on-year increase of 44.9 percent, marking a great start to the year.

Port officials worked out plans to raise the facility's efficiency by establishing centralized management for major projects. As a result, the on-site waiting time of ships and trains was shortened by 70 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

A total of 272 Chongqing-Shanghai direct cargo routes were introduced, an increase of 77.8 percent year-on-year. Maritime routes that link the port with Guang'an and Guangyuan in Sichuan province have been also added to the original sea transport system.

According to reports, China-Europe (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) freight trains delivered 3.5 times more containers during the period than in Q1 last year.

Liangjiang government reportedly has plans to further complete the transport infrastructure and expand port-railway cooperation, in order for the area to become the vanguard of China's mid-west development and bring prosperity to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.