[Photo provided to en.sd-port.com]

Good news came again from Shandong Port Group (SPG) during the May Day Holiday. On May 3, the maiden voyage ceremony of CMV cold chain service of SITC International Holdings was held at Qingdao Port of SPG.

It is considered a major step forward for SPG in fighting the pandemic, seizing new opportunities presented by international supply chain innovation, expanding domestic demand and upgrading consumer spending, as well as working together with logistics partners to ensure the smooth operation of global logistics, industry and supply chains. As a result, a low-cost and high-efficiency import logistics thoroughfare for consumption goods will be built connecting Southeast Asia with China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone.

Meanwhile, it will provide a considerable boost to SPG's global standing as a cold chain port, a port that handles consumption goods and a maritime strategic pivot for the Belt and Road Initiative, in an effort to promote the "East-West Connection, Land-Sea Linkage" and hasten the construction of a world-class sea port.

Currently, China's economy has witnessed changes evolving from producer-controlled to consumer-controlled, from production-driven to consumption-driven. The consumption of cold and fresh food has risen after the pandemic, which generates the rising of cold chain logistics, making it the most popular trend at the moment.

Confronted with many new opportunities and trends, SPG has actively tackled the coronavirus pandemic and seized opportunities, thus bringing the SITC CMV cold chain service into being.

As SITC's first direct container route from Qingdao to Malaysia, with port rotation mainly including ports in Southeast Asia such as Ho Chi Minh, Manila and Bintulu, it replaces the former railway transportation and takes only 5-day-waterway to transport quality fruits from Vietnam to Qingdao, which boosts SPG's cold chain logistics service quality and satisfies the increasing consumption demand of Qingdao and Shandong people. 

The route realizes rapid transit among Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea via Qingdao, and further advances the international trade network that connects ASEAN region with China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone.

To contribute SPG's strength for the "six stabilizes" and "six ensures", SPG will conform with the trend, seize opportunities, turn itself into a cold chain port and a port that handles consumption products with international influence, and maintain the smooth operation of the global supply chain, said SPG Party secretary and chairman Huo Gaoyuan.

 [Photo provided to en.sd-port.com]