The Shandong Port Group · Service for Luoyang Metropolitan Area Seminar is held in Luoyang on April 24. [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]

Chinese port operator Shandong Port Group – one of the biggest port operators in the world, which is based in Qingdao city in East China's Shandong province – is discussing joining forces with the city of Luoyang in Central China's Henan province in order to boost their mutual trade.

At the Shandong Port Group · Service for Luoyang Metropolitan Area Seminar – which was held in Luoyang on April 24 – one of the hot subjects for discussion was the integration of their industries, including their high-tech manufacturing and modern service industries.

The other top subject was how they could coordinate on what is known as dual circulation – the new development paradigm in China that sees the domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and global trade reinforcing each other.

More than 40 representatives from government authorities, the railways transport system and Shandong Port Group's corporate clients exchange views and discussed how to cooperate with each other during the event.

The company and Henan are both core regions for the environmental protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. Shandong Port Group – also known as SPG – and Luoyang are understood to have a particularly good foundation to develop a strong working relationship.

To date, SPG has connected with regions and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative and with partner countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, a major free trade agreement between Asia-Pacific nations that was signed last November.

As early as in 2012, the SPG's Qingdao Port took the lead in launching a multimodal transport business in Luoyang, which laid a solid platform for accelerating the construction of a logistics channel from Henan to Shandong.

Additionally, since 2020, SPG has successively launched sea-rail combined freight trains from Nanyang and Jiaozuo to SPG.