Major farm produce logistics hub opens in Chongqing, marking launch of ASEAN cold-chain rail link

(ECNS) -- The Hongxing Youyang Wuling Mountain Agricultural Wholesale Center officially opened on Wednesday.

The 10-billion-yuan (about $1.48 billion) farm produce distribution hub serves 30 million people across Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou.

Jointly developed by Huayu Industrial Group of Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County and Hongxing Industrial Group, the project covers 53.36 hectares and will be developed in three phases.

The launch also marked the opening of the ASEAN-Youyang cold-chain rail route. Fresh fruit from ASEAN countries arrives in Youyang by rail, enters the center’s storage facilities and is then distributed across the Wuling Mountain region. Farm produce from the Wuling Mountains can be shipped nationwide and overseas.

The wholesale center will create more than 10,000 direct jobs and support around 20,000 jobs in upstream and downstream industries. It is expected to generate about 2 billion yuan in transaction volume in its first year of operation.

Once all three phases are completed, annual turnover will exceed 10 billion yuan, with annual throughput exceeding 500,000 metric tons.

(By Helen Mo & Xu Wenda)