Four of the nine Guangxi border checkpoints now have access to expressways and construction of the five remaining expressway access points at border checkpoints is now underway, officials from the Transport Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region announced on Nov 26.

Expressways to Dongzhong, Yueyu and Pingmeng are expected to be put into operation in 2024 while the one to Aidian is set to start operation in 2023.

"Chongzuo has five checkpoints and only two of them have access to expressways. All five of them will be connected to expressways in the next five years," said Li Li from the Chongzuo development and reform commission.

Li noted that Chongzuo shares a border of over 500 kilometers with Vietnam and is the most convenient gateway for connecting China with ASEAN. The optimization of transport facilities in Chongzuo will help boost economic and trade cooperation between the city and ASEAN countries.

The total import and export trade volume of Chongzuo has maintained an average annual growth rate of over 8 percent in the past five years, and trade volume amounted to 184.3 billion yuan ($28.9 billion) in 2020. 

The city has topped Guangxi for 12 consecutive years in terms of its total import and export trade volume and for 14 consecutive years in terms of export volume.