Land-sea trade corridor key to regional progress

China has rolled out a package of financial measures to support the development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, officials said, underscoring the country's commitment to advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation amid complex global geopolitical and economic conditions.

The measures were unveiled on Wednesday in a guideline jointly issued by the People's Bank of China — the nation's central bank — and seven other government authorities.

Covering 21 measures, the guideline aims to help build the corridor into a land-sea linkage connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

They focus on strengthening infrastructure connectivity, bolstering financial linkages and facilitating cross-border investment, financing and trade settlement, including promoting wider cross-border use of digital renminbi to reduce settlement costs.

Lu Lei, deputy governor of the PBOC, said on Thursday that the guideline demonstrates China's determination to keep opening its door wider, carrying major and positive significance for promoting smoother domestic and international economic circulation against the backdrop of a complex international geopolitical and economic situation.

Lu highlighted the need to accelerate high-level, two-way financial opening-up as China's trade ties with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations continued to deepen.

"We should seize the opportunity presented by the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor to advance this work in a solid and innovative manner," Lu said.

To the south, the corridor connects with Beibu Gulf in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and maritime routes across the Indian Ocean, while to the west, it links up with countries in Central Asia and extends to Europe, making it a key node of the Belt and Road Initiative. It currently connects 583 ports across 127 countries and regions, with more than 1,300 categories of goods transported.

Adopted at the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) call for accelerating construction of the corridor as part of efforts to advance high-quality BRI cooperation.

Chen Xinwu, executive vice-mayor of Chongqing, said the guideline provides strong safeguards for the development of infrastructure — such as railways and ports — which form the backbone of the corridor's strategic role.

Chen added that the planned dedicated fund in Chongqing is a key step to pool capital from both home and abroad, as well as State-owned and private sources, helping address financing challenges while driving innovation in cross-border finance and supply chain finance.

The guideline said that a dedicated fund will be established in Chongqing to support infrastructure projects and industrial parks along the route, while sharpening focus on corridor infrastructure development via support from various financial institutions and diversified financing channels.

It also proposed exploring and advancing pilot programs for cross-border digital renminbi payments between the Chinese mainland and Singapore, and called for studying expanding the use of digital renminbi in corridor-related payment and settlement, financing and tax refunds.

"Building on the Project mBridge and the China-Singapore bilateral digital renminbi pilot, we will promote breakthroughs in using digital renminbi in cross-border settlement, enabling near-instant settlement for enterprises," said Yao Li, head of the Chongqing Municipal Branch of the PBOC.