Apart from the capacity to deliver bulky items, the international corridor also tackles perishable logistics puzzles. In recent years, fresh durians, mangoes and other tropical fruits from Thailand and Vietnam have reached the Chinese market at competitive prices, while Guangxi citrus has found swift global distribution.

Yang Ming, general manager of Zuncheng (Chongqing) Logistics Chain Management Co Ltd, said imported fruit previously entered from China's coastal metropolis of Shanghai and then sailed more than 1,600 km westward along the Yangtze River before being transported to his firm. "In recent years, our customers no longer worry about fruit getting moldy due to long transit times," he added.

Dutch company New Silk Way Logistics has used the China-Europe rail services for nine years. The company introduced temperature-controlled containers to help European pharmaceutical enterprises access the Chinese market.

Hanno Reeser, a strategic expert from the company, said that medical products are highly sensitive to temperature and transit times, while the freight trains have reduced the journey from Europe to China to less than 20 days, which is far quicker than by sea.

For ASEAN-bound shipments from Chongqing, the ILSTC cuts the transit time by approximately 25 days via smooth intermodal coordination, which outperforms traditional routes along the Yangtze River waterway to coastal ports in East China.

The ILSTC also creates greater value in the development of remote areas. After a 43-day journey, Arctic sweet shrimp were shipped from Canada, via Qinzhou Port, to a factory of Jiajiarong food company in the mountainous area of Chongqing.

Following streamlined manufacturing processes including cleaning, shelling and flash-freezing, shrimp products are packed and transported via refrigerated trucks to East China's Shandong province, and then shipped to their final destination — counters of sushi shops and supermarkets in Japan, with a total transportation time of only one week.

"The ILSTC brings us the business of processing and re-exporting supplied materials. Our workers in mountainous areas are engaged in international business," said Wang Lezhi, general manager of Jiajiarong, adding that the company had exported over 80 metric tons of aquatic products as of April this year.

In the first quarter, the import and export volume via the ILSTC exceeded 200 billion yuan ($27.83 billion), marking a year-on-year growth of over 10 percent and setting a historic high, according to Chongqing Customs.

Xinhua