The 2019 Cross-Strait Cold Chain Logistics Industry Cooperation and Development Forum is held in Chongzuo, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Nov 27. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Guangxi is building a modern cold chain logistics system for ASEAN and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, said Deputy Director of the Guangxi Commerce Department Xu Jin at the 2019 Cross-Strait Cold Chain Logistics Industry Cooperation and Development Forum on Nov 27.

Held in Chongzuo, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region from Nov 26 to 27, the forum aims to build a platform for the development of industrial cooperation and exchanges between Chongzuo and Taiwan, promoting the connection in various fields such as agricultural products, cold chain logistics, export processing, and trade.

According to Xu, Guangxi's cold storage capacity has currently reached 1.38 million tons and the county's cold chain logistics coverage rate is 72 percent. In 2018, Guangxi's fruit and vegetable output was about 55 million tons, and its external shipments up to 15 million tons. Over 300 fruits were imported from ports and border cities.

Guangxi attaches great importance to the development of the cold chain logistics industry. It has issued a series of policies such as the Guangxi Cold Chain Logistics Industry Plan and the Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Cold Chain Logistics to Ensure Food Safety and Promote Consumption Upgrade to build a modern cold chain logistics system for ASEAN, the Greater Bay Area, and the Southwest China region.

Chongzuo has established Pingxiang Logistics Park in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone and the Pingxiang Comprehensive Free Trade Zone Logistics project. It has also opened international train routes to ASEAN and European countries, such as the China-Vietnam container train, the Guangzhou-Pingxiang-Hanoi Train, as well as the ASEAN countries-Pingxiang-Suzhou-Manzhouli-Europe train lines and logistics lines.

The forum also included the sharing of exemplary cases, cold chain logistics enterprise training, as well as keynote speeches on the cross-Straits cold chain logistics industry cooperation of experts, scholars, and business representatives.