China's Xiushan expands cross-border trade through logistics hub

By Liu Xinyu & Luo Yonghao

(ECNS) -- A mountainous county in southwest China's Chongqing is expanding its role in global trade, as new logistics links connect local industries with markets in Southeast Asia and Europe, businesses say.

"Orders are increasing year by year," Yang Tianyu, deputy general manager of Xiushan Zhenxiong Plastic Products Co., Ltd., told China News Service on Wednesday as he prepared a shipment bound for the United States in three days. 

He said the company has seen steady growth in overseas orders since setting up operations in Xiushan in August 2021, thanks to the convenient transport provided by the China-Europe Railway Express.

In the exhibition hall of the Xiushan International E-commerce Industrial Park, quality products from across China sit side by side with specialty goods from all 10 ASEAN member countries.

POP MART blind boxes - beloved by global toy enthusiasts - travel alongside local specialties such as sealwort and tea on the same freight trains heading overseas. 

Xiushan, once a small county in the heart of the Wuling Mountains, has transformed into a "world supermarket" today.

As early as 2009, Xiushan began planning a logistics hub in the Wuling Mountains area.

A local official recalled that the government proposed the idea of "purchasing from Wuling, selling the products nationwide" and launched a 6-square-kilometer logistics park planning. The county built key infrastructure including a 3-million-ton railway loading and unloading point on the Chongqing-Huaihua Railway and a container transfer station.

With the rapid development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) eastern route, Xiushan put into operation a range of facilities, including the Wuling Mountain International Logistics Hub, the Xiushan International E-commerce Industrial Park, and the Wuling Mountain (Xiushan) Express Distribution Center. 

At the same time, the county has launched ILSTC freight trains, the "Wulingshan" China-Europe Railway Express (CR Express), and ASEAN cross-border highway freight services. This has made it possible to reach ASEAN countries within two days and Europe within 14 days.

Tian Jingyou, deputy general manager of the Yunzhi Logistics Branch of Chongqing Xiushan Guanglian Land Port Construction and Development Co., Ltd., told China News Service that Xiushan has built its own road freight terminal and dry port as well as financial supervision warehouses. These facilities serve as a bridge of trust between banks, enterprises and warehouses, helping alleviate the capital turnover pressures faced by local enterprises.

Today, Xiushan has developed a three-tier logistics network covering international, regional and county routes. Traditional e-commerce businesses have upgraded from "selling locally" to "selling to the global market". Products "made in Xiushan" and "produced in Wuling" are also entering global markets at an accelerating pace.

Data show that Wuling Mountain products are now sold to 68 countries and regions worldwide. The county has attracted e-commerce platforms and incubators, including Amazon, and has fostered more than 140 cross-border e-commerce companies and about 400 online stores.

In 2025, Xiushan recorded a freight volume of 1,524 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) with a total value of 150 million yuan (about $20.8 million), while total imports and exports reached 320 million yuan, according to official data.