Baotou in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region has released its top 10 high points in commerce and business for 2019, according to a Jan 12 report in the Baotou Daily.

1. Baotou Airport moves into commercial cargo

Baotou Airport got the green light to handle commercial cargo from the State Council, China’s Cabinet, on Nov 8. The cargo operation will be officially opened after approval is given by the General Administration of Customs.

The launch of the cargo operations at Baotou Airport opens up fast air routes for trading between Baotou and the world, promoting deeper cooperation between Baotou and overseas countries and regions in trade, finance, science and technology, education and tourism.

2. Land port introduces supervision site for imported meat

A supervision site for imported meat at Mandula Port in Baotou was officially approved by the General Administration of Customs and qualified to begin operations on April 28.

A total of 150 million yuan ($21.73 million) was invested in the site, which covers an area of 89,000 square meters and has an annual inspection capacity of 97,000 tons. Preparation and construction on the project began in July 2016.

3. Bonded logistics center passes national acceptance

On July 23, the Baotou Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) of the Railway Comprehensive Modern Logistics Park passed the acceptance check conducted by the General Administration of Customs and was cleared to go into operation.

4. City continues to lead way in export-oriented economy

The volume of the city's foreign trade exports was again first place in the autonomous region -- its third consecutive win -- and total imports and exports ranked second, one place up compared with 2018. The city ranked second in foreign investment in the region, two places up compared with 2018.

5. Key port projects signed

The Baotou municipal government is to cooperate with NORINCO, the government of Darhan Muminggan Joint Banner and NORINCO International on the China-Mongolia Economic Corridor Mine Integration Project. That follows a strategic cooperation agreement which was signed on Nov 4.

6. Great strides made in poverty alleviation

The bureau of commerce of Baotou was rated as excellent by the Baotou municipal leading group for poverty alleviation. In addition, Baotou E-commerce Center won the Excellent Organization Award for E-commerce in Rural Areas given the Commerce Department of Inner Mongolia.

7. E-commerce soars to new heights

The city's e-commerce transaction volumes in 2019 soared to 160.5 billion yuan ($23.28 billion), a year-on-year increase of 77.7 percent, while the transaction volume and growth rate ranked first in the autonomous region.

8. Key local, overseas economic, trade events staged

Baotou actively participated in key domestic and international economic and trade events -- including the second China International Import Expo, the China Inner Mongolia-Mongolia Investment and Trade Cooperation Promotion Conference 2019 and the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019.

9. Funding secured for national, regional projects 

A total of 70 national and autonomous region level projects were launched throughout the year, with an application funding of 113 million yuan, ranking first in the autonomous region.

10. More investment goes to service industry

Investment in the city's service industry in 2019 increased by 5.6 percent year-on-year. That was higher than the city's investment growth rate by 5.3 percentage points and bettered the region's service industry investment growth rate by 0.3 percentage points. The service industry investment proportion reached 60.9 percent, which was 3.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year.