Largest China-Russia Land Port Reinvents Itself as Industrial Hub
An aerial drone photo shows containers being loaded at Manzhouli Railway Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
HOHHOT, CHINA - Media OutReach Newswire - 21 May 2025 - As China's largest land port, Manzhouli is expanding beyond its traditional role as a "transit station." By promoting local processing of grain, oil and timber, the city is steadily evolving into a regional industrial hub.At Manzhouli Xinfeng Grain and Oil Industry Co., Ltd., freshly imported rapeseed from Russia is processed on intelligent production lines. From dehulling to pressing, the procedures run smoothly, as golden rapeseed oil gently streams into storage tanks."As soon as the raw materials clear customs, we go straight into production, operating around the clock," said Yang Zhihong, deputy general manager of the company. He noted that Russian rapeseed oil, prized for its low acid value and high smoke point, is particularly popular among domestic downstream enterprises.This "Russian supply, Chinese processing" model is fueling a growing shift among local businesses, pushing them beyond mere trade toward more advanced, value-added processing.Yang crunched the numbers. "By importing raw materials through 'border trade', a special policy that allows residents in border areas to conduct small-scale cross-border trade under simplified customs procedures, we save an average of 500 yuan (about 69.5 U.S. dollars) per tonne. Since last year, that's added up to savings of over 8 million yuan," he explained.This model cuts traditional trade taxes and fees from around 18 percent to less than 4 percent of total costs. It enables enterprises to source raw materials at lower prices, while border residents earn income from the price difference, creating a win-win supply chain involving border residents, cooperatives and enterprises.As of April 2025, "border trade" in Manzhouli has surpassed 100 million yuan this year, with more than 3,600 border residents taking part, generating nearly 2 million yuan in tax revenue to the city.The roaring development of Manzhouli's timber processing industry goes hand in hand with the grain and oil sector. Since establishing an imported timber processing base in 2003, Manzhouli has continuously focused on deep and fine processing, showcasing the strong potential of its timber manufacturing industry.Located in the Inner Mongolia Manzhouli border economic cooperation zone, the import-export resource processing industrial park processes up to 5.6 million cubic meters of timber annually. It has developed a diverse product lineup, including solid wood furniture, doors and windows, wood pellets, and solid wood flooring.In 2023, the city's timber import reached 1.88 million cubic meters, demonstrating the strong momentum of the industry's growth.Meanwhile, Manzhouli has planned the development of a 2.74-square-kilometer chemical industry cluster within the import-export resource processing industrial park. This cluster will primarily rely on the import of large quantities of liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, and alkanes from Russia to drive integrated new energy chemical utilization and related projects.The cluster will provide high-end, premium chemical intermediates for domestic advanced polymer materials and engineering plastics, injecting new momentum into the city's economic development.Bai Zhiping, an official from the Manzhouli municipal commerce bureau, said that Manzhouli's transformation from a "transit station" to an "industrial hub" reflects the development of the port-based processing model.An increasing number of enterprises are moving beyond the traditional "transit economy" and are leveraging the advantages of the border to create a new industrial ecosystem focused on deep processing.In the first quarter of this year, Manzhouli's import and export freight volume reached 6.53 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 10.6 percent. The value of imports and exports handled by the Manzhouli port reached 47.67 billion yuan, up 6.1 percent year on year.Hashtag: #Manzhouli
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
44 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus arrives for official visit
Bangladesh's chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, was received by home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail at KLIA Terminal 1 upon his arrival today. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : Bangladesh's chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, arrived in Malaysia today for a three-day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Yunus and his delegation were received by home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on their arrival at KLIA Terminal 1, Bernama reported. Wisma Putra said the visit is in response to Anwar's official trip to Bangladesh in October last year. Yunus, who is accompanied by several advisers and senior government officials, will be accorded an official welcoming ceremony at the Perdana Putra Complex tomorrow. This will be followed by a bilateral meeting with Anwar. The two leaders are expected to discuss regional and international developments of mutual concern and review progress in Malaysia-Bangladesh relations in key areas such as trade and investment, labour cooperation, education, tourism and defence. Both leaders will also witness the signing of several MoUs in areas such as defence, energy, strategic and international studies, semiconductor capacity building, and trade promotion. Wisma Putra said Anwar will host an official luncheon at the Seri Perdana Complex in honour of Yunus and his delegation. Bangladesh is Malaysia's second-largest trading partner and export destination in South Asia. Total trade between the two nations reached RM13.35 billion last year, an increase of 5.1% compared with 2023. The major Malaysian exports to Bangladesh include petroleum products, palm oil, and chemicals, while imports comprise mainly of textiles, footwear, and manufactured items. The visit is expected to further strengthen bilateral relations and foster stronger cooperation in areas of mutual benefit, building upon the strong foundation established since diplomatic ties were forged in 1972.
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Hybrid rice project launched at Nepal's sci-tech park
KATHMANDU, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Experimental seedlings of hybrid rice varieties were transplanted into Nepal South Agricultural Science and Technology Park on Monday, as part of efforts to help the South Asian country achieve food self-sufficiency. The first batch of 37 high-yield varieties will land at the hybrid rice demonstration zone of the park, which is located in the town of Rampur in Bharatpur city in south-central Nepal. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song described the project as the result of hard work for more than two years, calling it another progress in agricultural cooperation between the two countries on the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties. Chen noted that improving agricultural productivity and enhancing food self-sufficiency has become a global focus, and the promotion of China's hybrid rice technology is a key area in global agricultural technology cooperation and a key component of China's current global governance approach. "China hopes to help more developing countries, including Nepal, achieve food self-sufficiency through international cooperation and technological exchange, thereby promoting the shared development of global agriculture," added Chen. Agriculture is the backbone of Nepal's economy and provides a livelihood to a large portion of the population. "I believe that by using improved varieties of seeds, farmers will be able to increase their production, contribute to poverty alleviation, and achieve the goal of sustainable development by becoming self-reliant in rice," Mayor of Bharatpur Renu Dahal said at the inauguration ceremony. "These seeds will provide the potential for self-reliant agriculture, prosperous farmers and food security in the future," she added, expecting the program to reach farms in the local district as well as across the country. The park was developed with the support of China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center and implemented by Nepal's Agriculture and Forestry University based in Bharatpur and Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Domestic markets face volatile fund flows
PETALING JAYA: Fund flows into local capital markets are expected to remain volatile as investors focus on looming US sectoral tariffs on Malaysia's pharmaceutical and semiconductor goods. United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd (UOB) expects capital flows into Malaysia and other emerging markets to remain volatile, with investors continuing to rotate their funds across sectors based on each country's resilience to US tariffs and shifts in trade policy. UOB said investor attention is now turning to sector-specific levies by the United States and a potential 10% surcharge on Brics member countries and their allies. 'Other key near-term issues include US-China trade negotiations, the US Federal Reserve's policy independence and its rate trajectory,' UOB said in a research note. UOB added that lingering tariff and trade uncertainties would continue to weigh on the ringgit till the end of the year before the currency regains strength from the first quarter of next year (1Q26). UOB projects the ringgit strengthening against the US dollar to RM4.19 in 2Q26 from RM4.20 in 1Q26 and RM4.23 in 4Q25 and RM4.27 in 3Q25. Analysts noted that July was the second consecutive month foreign investors continued to pare their holdings of Malaysian equities and debt. In its weekly fund-flow report, MBSB Research said foreign fund outflows from Bursa Malaysia in July had extended into August. In the week ended Aug 8, foreign investors extended their net selling of Malaysian equities to fifth consecutive week, registering a net outflow of RM1.14bil. This was three times higher than the previous week's outflow of RM378.1mil. Foreign investors were net sellers on every trading day, with outflows ranging from RM145.6mil to RM318.1mil. 'The largest outflow was recorded last Tuesday, followed by last Thursday with RM291mil, last Monday with RM205.7mil and last Wednesday with RM174.7mil, while last Friday recorded the smallest outflow. 'The only two sectors that recorded net foreign inflows last week were industrial products and services (RM62.7mil) and transportation and logistics (RM36.2mil). 'The top three sectors that recorded the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM344.3mil), healthcare (RM239.1mil) and utilities (RM210.2mil),' said MBSB Research. The selling pressure is also present in bonds. Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB) said moderate selling of ringgit bonds continued in July for a second consecutive month, driven in part by a rebound in the greenback. Outflows totalled RM5.5bil from June's RM5.4bil, although on a year-to-date basis, flows stayed positive at RM15.9bil from a peak of RM26.9bil in May. Maybank IB said foreign holdings of Malaysian Government Securities and Government Investment Issues eased to 21.1% in July from 21.8% in June, while across Asean the picture was mixed, with Indonesia attracting inflows and Thailand experiencing outflows.
