The Shuangliu airport in Chengdu now has 85 direct international air routes. PEI XIN/XINHUA

City had direct economic and trade relations with 223 cities worldwide at the end of 2015

Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, has successfully reinvented itself as a major logistics hub, according to the city's deputy mayor.

Fu Yonglin, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, said that by the end of last year, Chengdu had direct economic and trade relations with 223 major cities worldwide－including 20 that have opened trade and tourism offices in the city.

"The city-to-city connections provide various kinds of platforms for Chengdu to open up to the world," Fu said.

Expedited infrastructure construction has helped the city to corner the logistics market and attract international investors and global enterprises.

With a comprehensive bonded zone directly under the supervision of customs, Chengdu's Shuangliu Airport and Qingbaijiang Railway Port have already won approval for directly importing meat, fruit and finished automobiles－and Fu said the "port's economic functions" will be further expanded.

In April, the 9,800-kilometer Chengdu-Europe railway came into operation, and the terminal in Europe extended from Poland to Germany last year.

Freight from Chengdu can be distributed to all major cities in Europe within three days of reaching the continent and the city is also connected to five countries in Central Asia by rail.

Cities in the economic engines of the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta have signed cooperation agreements to make the Chengdu-Europe railway an even more important land transport channel, said Fu.

The city also has 85 direct international air routes.

E-commerce is another growth area for Chengdu's economy. In January, the State Council approved a cross-border e-commerce model zone in the city, the only one in the west of China.

Fu regards this zone as an important platform for Chengdu's opening up.

"Customs, business administration, taxation departments and banks are all very supportive of the model zone's construction, and we have been preparing for it for a long time," said Fu. "After the zone is finished, residents in and around Chengdu will be able to receive the commodities they order from around the world in three days, and local manufacturers will be able to sell their products around the world as well. Plus, customs clearance will take only two hours."

Fu said the city government's other key task was developing its service industry, as Chengdu is the only city in the west of China approved by the State Council as a national level service trade innovation pilot city. Last year, Chengdu's trade in services exceeded $10 billion－90 percent of that was technology.

He also thinks the city has great potential to export its culture.

"The commercialization of Chengdu's culture will become a robust growth point in the city's service trade," Fu said. "More than 1 million young people in Chengdu earn their living in the cultural industry and China's Belt and Road initiative also brings opportunities for Chengdu to boost its service trade around the world."