Guangdong, located on the pearl river delta, has been one of the country’s major maritime gateways to the world since ancient times. It was a terminus of the maritime Silk Road, a historical sea trade route that began over 2,000 years ago. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the city was the only Chinese port accessible to most foreign traders for 85 years, and a village named Whampoa witnessed the prosperity of the trade at the time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0SmNkhfqyAw&list=PLjpKjfq_RLGdW0CDMFbt0qKOieFRiQfSn&index=15&pp=iAQB
“Absolutely, Guangdong was the front and center of the opening up of China. It has a very good location, close to Singapore, close to Southeast Asia.” said by Erik Solheim, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, inferring that Guangdong would be a very attractive place for foreign investments.
Now Guangzhou port is one of China’s busiest seaports and the world’s fifth-largest port. Cargo departing from Guangzhou by sea reaches over 300 ports in more than 80 countries and districts worldwide.
The Increasing Cooperation With Singapore And Malaysia
As an important port in the Strait of Malacca, the Port of Singapore is currently the second busiest port in the world. Loy Szewei, the General Manager of COSCO-PSA Terminal PTE LTD (CPT), has witnessed thousands of ships going by every day.
“These gave PSA an opportunity to value add to the shipping industry, especially Cosco. With Cosco being a global vessel operator, it requires the need to do transhipment so that it can gain efficiency through its trade network,” said by Loy Szewei, who joined PSA in 2018.
As an important gateway for global maritime trade, Malaysia has constructed many gigantic ports including Port Klang, the second largest port in Southeast Asia. Soo Chee Yeong, Deputy President of the Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH) and Managing Director of Vertex Mission held great expectations towards the Port Klang, “The west part of Port Klang is still in development. The cargo handling capacity of the port is likely to double over the next 10 or 20 years, which might achieve 30 million standard capacities”.
With the interweaving of shipping lines and the construction of modern ports, Southeast Asia has become more closely connected with China. China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner for consecutive 14 years. The bilateral trade reached a record of $203.6 billion in 2022.
China-Europe Railway Express From A “Novice“ to A “Two-Way Journey“
The China-Europe Railway Express is known as the “Steel Camel Caravan” on the “Belt and Road”. In ten years, China-Europe Railway Express has accumulated 77,000 trains, transporting 7.31 million TEUs of goods with a total value exceeding $340 billion. It is becoming an important bridge for international economic and trade cooperation.
“We had 15 integrated transport routes in 2015. Now the number has increased to 729. Goods are transported along these routes between China and Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) as well as the European Union (EU),” Alexey Grom, CEO of JSC United Transport and Logistics Company of Eurasian Rail Alliance indicating the increasing number of railway routes.
The China-Europe Railway Express has transformed from a “novice” to a “two-way journey”. On one hand, tens of thousands of Chinese goods are shipped to the world. At the same time, other countries’ goods are also carried to China.
Chao Zhang, Deputy Director of Division of General Operation of Guangdong Sub-Administration of GACC made a comparison, “Guangdong has achieved a record high in the number of return trips for China-Europe Railway Express. From January to August, we have operated 143 import trains”.
Building People-to-People Connectivity With Tea
“Within the Belt and Road Initiative, there are five-pronged approaches. Besides the infrastructure development, it is important not to overlook people-to-people ties,” said by Ong Tee Keat, Former Minister of Transport of Malaysia. He considered that building people-to-people connectivity is challenging, which requires involvement across various social levels to foster mutual understanding between peoples of two countries.
Tea probably plays a key role in enhancing people-to-people exchange. Chinese tea also crossed the oceans and went into Southeast Asian countries. Nowadays, in the streets of Malaysia, the phrase “tea” in Malay has become a social tool for them.
“The cultural exchange of tea between Malaysia and China, except for the pandemic time, has never been interrupted,” Ya Hui, Manager of My Star Tea City in Kuala Lumpur suggesting that Chinese tea businessmen come to Malaysia, and Malaysian counterparts also go to China. They will exchange different information with each other. The communication has been on and on.
Tan Keng Kang, Group Managing Director of Hai-O has fallen in love with tea since he was little. He emphasized that the countries participated in the Belt and Road Initiative are fond of drinking tea. Therefore, tea serves as a medium for human communication, strengthening people-to-people connectivity.
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