A delegation of members of Eurasian mainstream media who attended the 2023 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road visited the Qingdao West Coast New Area (Qingdao WCNA) to learn about its efforts in leveraging the opportunities presented by China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Qingdao WCNA has made progress in innovation by establishing a "District-Customs-Port" linkage mechanism involving Qingdao Area of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Qingdao FTZ), Huangdao Customs and Qingdao Port.

Qingdao WCNA has also established a joint research center and innovation laboratory that has enhanced institutional innovation and improved port and shipping services.

Over 27 metric tons of dried apricots were recently shipped from Afghanistan to Qingdao Port, where inspection procedures took only 30 minutes at Huangdao Customs thanks to the "Port-Customs" smart inspection platform.

Furthermore, Qingdao WCNA has introduced the Qingdao FTZ China-Europe Block Train - China-Germany Business Express, expanded the China-Europe Block Train's terminal, established a warehouse for Chinese tire and auto parts, and constructed a versatile port for cross-border e-commerce, general trade, international shipping, and express delivery.

These initiatives have resulted in a significant increase in import and export value between Qingdao WCNA and BRI countries - it reached 144 billion yuan ($20.23 billion) from January to August this year.

Moreover, Qingdao WCNA had attracted 24 foreign investment projects from BRI countries during the first eight months.

A bird's-eye view of Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis located in Qingdao WCNA. [Photo/Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis official website]