CHANGSHA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Huaihua is a humble inland city that once saw its development hindered by geographical isolation. Despite breeding world-known hybrid rice, the city, located in deep mountains in central China's Hunan Province, long found it challenging to bring its high-quality agricultural products and manufactured goods to the global market.
However, its fortunes would take a positive turn in 2019, when the city was designated as an important node on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor -- a key international connectivity initiative now connecting more inland parts of China to the global market.
Local goods in Huaihua, now an international dry port, can undergo the custom clearance procedure just minutes after leaving the factory.
Then, the goods are loaded onto a freight train, sent to the coastal Qinzhou Port in Guangxi about 800 km away, and transferred to ships bound for customers overseas, said Tian Ping, a manager at Hunan Litong Hengyu Electrical Cables Tech Co., Ltd.
The company Tian worked for used to serve traditionally domestic power-grid customers. But now it is eyeing expansion into Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
"The dry port services and faster and cheaper transportation services are advantages of Huaihua that we value," Tian said.
Tian did the math. If companies shipped goods to Indonesia via Qingdao Port in east China, the logistics cost would be about 500 yuan (about 70 U.S. dollars) higher per tonne than using the rail-sea intermodal transport service available in Huaihua.
"In international competition, key advantages ultimately come down to production and logistics costs," said Tian.
Official figures show that the number of freight train services handled by Huaihua's dry port rose from 17 in 2021 to 1,220 in 2025. Its connectivity network now comprises seven major international logistics corridors and 200 domestic and international routes, reaching 216 ports and stations in 69 countries and regions.
More inland businesses are benefiting from such economically viable logistics option via dry port as China is encouraging inland regions to grow export-oriented economy and deeply integrate in Belt and Road cooperation.
In Ganzhou, east China's Jiangxi Province, its dry port is helping connect local furniture industry with suppliers and customers across Eurasia.
Six years ago, Jiangxi Sanyou Furniture Co., Ltd. could never have imagined making significant inroads into the European market. The furniture maker's opportunity for European expansion came when a staff member from the local dry port brought a Hungarian business delegation to visit.
One company from the Hungarian delegation placed an order worth 100,000 yuan, and Sanyou shipped the furniture by China-Europe freight train.
"It took only 20 days from loading the furniture to delivering it to Hungary, less than half the time required by sea," said Zhu Hao, Sanyou's marketing general manager. "The customer was satisfied with the furniture, and we saw the benefits."
The furniture company later established stable business relationships with customers in Hungary, Germany and Poland. Its European orders reached 7.36 million yuan in 2025.
By the end of 2025, Ganzhou International Land Port had handled more than 1,700 China-Europe freight trains. The trains have transported local products, ranging from porcelain tableware and toys to fresh farm produces and new-energy vehicles, to European customers. ■
