(Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)

The 2023 China-SCO International Logistics Round Table was held in Lianyungang City of Jiangsu Province on August 17 and 18.

Co-hosted by the Lianyungang Municipal People's Government and the SCO Secretariat, the meeting attracted representatives from SCO member and observer states, the New Eurasian Land Bridge Industrial Parks Alliance, and think tanks associated with the China-Europe freight train services.

Sohail Khan, SCO Deputy Secretary General, Fang Wei, Vice Governor of Jiangsu, and Ma Shiguang, Party Secretary of the CPC Lianyungang Municipal Committee, delivered speeches at the meeting, which was presided over by Xing Zhengjun, Mayor of Lianyungang.

The meeting discussed cooperation in the fields of transportation and logistics, foreign trade, and digital economy under the framework of the SCO, aiming to create more growth opportunities.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Lianyungang plays the role of a key hub both in the BRI and the New Eurasian Land Bridge, an international passageway linking the Pacific and the Atlantic. The city facilitates trade routes across the sea and land, with significant achievements made in cargo train transport linking China and Europe, the China-Kazakhstan logistics cooperation base, and the SCO International Logistics Park.

Data showed the logistics park has maintained stable growth for years, with the logistics revenue growing from 250 million yuan at the end of 2018 to a maximum of 6.31 billion yuan. The cargo volume also increased from 14.64 million tonnes in 2018 to 64.93 million tonnes in 2022. In addition, Jiangsu's first freight train under the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan road-rail intermodal transport system departed in October 2022, transporting 1,182 TEUs by the end of July this year.