Logistical adjustments keep landlocked region's exports flowing overseas

Before a product made in Jiangxi province can reach overseas customers, it typically requires two crucial elements the inland province has historically had to "borrow" from coastal regions: efficient port logistics access and mature market channels. Consequently, Ganzhou International Land Port in Jiangxi and the cross-border e-commerce ecosystem of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, have emerged as pivotal components of Jiangxi's deepening collaboration with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

At Ganzhou International Land Port, containers of Jiangxi-made goods are loaded onto freight trains bound directly for Shenzhen's Yantian Port. The "Rongwan" intercity high-speed freight train between Ganzhou and Shenzhen has slashed average transit time from 12 hours to just six, saving nearly 2,000 yuan ($296) per container, said Liu Liping, deputy director of the port's operation and management bureau.

For a landlocked city, this represents far more than a logistical upgrade. By connecting with Yantian and Guangzhou ports, the land port has established an intermodal rail-sea channel designed to offer the "same port, same price and same efficiency". This cross-customs and cross-provincial coordination effectively extends the GBA's maritime reach inland to Ganzhou.

The impact is palpable across local industries. Deng Wangqiang, chairman of Jiangxi Aiyang Furniture Co, said that the land port enables companies to complete customs declarations and shipping locally. Deng estimates that logistics costs have dropped by 30 percent while efficiency has surged by 40 percent, significantly boosting the international competitiveness of the company's products.

The furniture industry of Nankang, a district of Ganzhou, serves as a prime example. Once reliant on traveling south to Guangdong to learn modern production and management techniques, local carpenters eventually returned to build a thriving modern furniture cluster in Ganzhou. In 2024, the output value of Nankang's furniture industrial cluster exceeded 280 billion yuan, with 46 percent of its products exported to over 100 countries and regions via the GBA, People's Daily's CPC News website reported.

Yet, logistics is only half of the equation for going global. Companies also require platforms, operators, buyers, brands and overseas distribution systems — which constituted the central focus of a Jiangxi cross-border e-commerce development panel held in Shenzhen on May 20. Chen Changsheng, deputy director of the Department of Commerce of Jiangxi Province, said Shenzhen efficiently links domestic and overseas markets, leading China's cross-border e-commerce development through its advanced digital technologies and active operating ecosystem. Chen described the partnership as a "two-way move" between Jiangxi's robust manufacturing and Shenzhen's expansive market channels.

Jiangxi is home to 39 of the country's 41 industrial categories, including two trillion-yuan-level industries in electronic information and nonferrous metals, alongside 12 hundred-billion-yuan-level industries. It also hosts 18 national foreign trade transformation and upgrading bases — covering products like Jingdezhen ceramics, Xinyu lithium batteries, Yingtan eyewear and Wuyuan tea — as well as nine comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones. Chen urged Jiangxi enterprises to embrace cross-border e-commerce, utilize comprehensive bonded zones and strengthen brand awareness to build independent labels with international influence.

For enterprises, the benefits of this synergy were highly practical. Xiao Shaping, foreign trade manager of Jiangxi OYF Vehicle Industry Co, said the Shenzhen event directly connected her company with potential clients in Russia and Pakistan, effectively linking Jiangxi's industrial belts with global e-commerce opportunities.

The underlying logic is straightforward: Jiangxi possesses manufacturing capacity and distinctive products, while Shenzhen offers the needed platforms, buyers and international networks. By synergizing these strengths, Jiangxi aims not only to boost export volumes but also to enhance brand building, channel management, supply-chain services and global market responsiveness.

For Jiangxi, this marks the next critical step in GBA cooperation. Moving products is essential, but building enduring channels is the greater challenge. As the province strives to turn its factories and industrial belts into recognized brands with long-term market presence, the GBA — with its ports, capital, platforms and global networks — is proving to be an indispensable partner.