China's newest panda ambassadors to Belgium - named Star and Friendship - arrived in Brussels on Feb 23 courtesy of shipping services provided by a branch of DHL in Chengdu established in the city's drive to improve logistics services.

Their arrival not only represents the friendship between Chinese and Belgian peoples but also symbolizes that Chengdu is opening up "in all aspects", said government officials of the capital city in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

The relocation of industrial infrastructure and redirection of investment to inland western regions has already provided Chengdu a historic opportunity to build an international metropolis, they said.

Recognizing the potential, the city government mapped out a comprehensive development strategy aimed at opening the city to more outside investment.

Part of the effort is to draw capital and expand its logistics network.

In light of the city's growth potential, global logistics giant DHL established an operations center in Chengdu in 2012 and thus moved its business focus within China to the western regions.

"Our company places a high value on Chengdu as an emerging market," said Zou Yin, general manager of DHL supply chain in China.

"In the next five to 10 years, the city will no doubt be an investment focus of the entire DHL group," Zou said.

Underlying the company's ambitions is a growing demand from investors drawn to Chengdu and local authorities' determination to develop logistics for a modern and international industrial structure.

Before he decided to invest in Chengdu, Terry Gou, present of Taiwan-based Foxconn, one of the world's largest electronics contract manufacturers, told the city government that his company had developed as much as it could in the eastern coastal region and that it was time to look west.

The question of whether to relocate all operations inland or just some depends on the quality and amount of logistical services available in the western regions, which Gou pointed out has long been a hindrance to local development.

Realizing that Gou was not alone in his concerns, Chen Zhongwei, director of the city's logistics office, said Chengdu's opening-up and internationalization could not be sustained without an advanced transportation and logistics network.

That is why the city government set up a logistics office, the first of its kind in the country, to boost the industry, Chen said.

Satisfied with the city's response, Foxconn established facilities in Chengdu and employed tens of thousands of workers there to make iPads for Apple.

At the same time, the investment-friendly atmosphere has also drawn other leading IT industrial players, including Dell, Lenovo and Compal, to the metropolis.

Now two-thirds of Apple iPads and half of laptop computer chips worldwide are made in the city and then are shipped to around the globe through international freight companies.

The advanced logistics services have integrated Chengdu into the global modern industrial system, local officials said.

International railway

An international railway linking Chengdu to Europe was put into operation last year. It runs almost along parts of the legendary Silk Road, where caravans shipped silk, jewelry and spices between China and European countries for sale some 2,000 years ago.

The ancient route was still in use until about six centuries ago. Nowadays, the land transport line totaling 9,826 kilometers has gained a new lease on life.

It takes 14 days to ship millions of laptop computers as well as PC accessories from Chengdu to Lodz in Poland. Then within three days, the shipments are delivered to customers in London, Paris, Berlin and Rome through the widespread European railway and road network.

This year, the running time of the trains is anticipated to be reduced to 12 days and freight trains will be doubled, according to the city's logistics office.

The international train service brought a change in the conventional development mode that an inland city had to depend on ports for an export-oriented economy.

The Chengdu-Lodz train service has become a new engine to realize Chengdu's goal as China's western gateway to opening-up, local officials said.

DHL announced in June 2013 that it launched weekly express freight train services, via the Chengdu-Lodz line.

Electronics manufacturers, including Dell, have begun to deploy the line for export from China.

If companies choose water routes, they will spend five weeks in total shipping products from inland plants to coastal cities of Shenzhen or Shanghai, then going around India and finally sail through the Suez Canal to Europe.

While ocean shipping costs 25 percent less than railway freight, the longer shipping time is still seen as a considerable cost for businesspeople, industry insiders said.

Jonney Shih, board chairman of computer maker Asustek, said shifting from ocean to railway will bring a marked improvement in inventory costs and delivery time. Asustek, the world third largest manufacturer of tablet PCs, next to Apple and Samsung, has begun to employ the train service.

Air routes

In addition to rail, Chengdu also has an edge in air transportation.

The first direct flight linking China's western and central regions to Los Angeles will take off from Chengdu in June, making it the fourth mainland city to offer direct flights to the United States.

The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport has opened 21 direct passenger flights to overseas destinations - including Tokyo, London and Abu Dhabi - and 22 charter and transit flights, covering Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, and South and East Asia, as well as Macao and Hong Kong regions.

With new facilities, including an airport runway and terminal, put into use, the Shuangliu airport managers are planning to open routes to Russia and Africa.

People entering or leaving China through the Chengdu airport's immigration entrance were reported at an average annual growth rate of 37 percent during the past four years, with a record 2.3 million last year.

And construction on another airport is planned to begin this year, enabling Chengdu to become the third city on the Chinese mainland that has two airports, after Beijing and Shanghai.

The move will reinforce Chengdu's strategic position as an aviation hub in western China and help to expand its global logistics network, government officials said.

As the fourth city on the mainland to adopt a "72-hour in-transit visa" policy, after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Chengdu has drawn more tourists and business people, which increased passenger flows at the Shuangliu airport.

The transit visa policy granted to Chengdu shows the Chinese government's attitude to advance the western regions' opening-up and participation in global economic competition, said Tang Jiqiang, a researcher at the Chinese finance research center at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.

Favorable environment

The flourishing logistics sector helps to secure more overseas investments. Foreign capital increased by 20 times over the past decade, with 252 Fortune 500 companies establishing facilities in Chengdu.

Among them is Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping logistics service providers. It set up a global information-processing center in Chengdu in 2010, moving its related businesses in Guangzhou and Shenzhen to the western inland city.

"The center has more than 1,200 staff, 90 percent of them from Chengdu," said the company's executives.

"Why we chose it - the city is rich in human resources. "

Huang Yunfei, a director of Dell's Sichuan project, said "it is not only the cheap yet high-quality labor force, but also Chengdu's influence over the entire western regions, that prompted our decision to invest here".

"Through this platform, we can freight our products to Northeast China or Southeast Asia, or ship them to North America and Europe via the international railway," Huang said.

Intel, another on the Fortune 500 list, has also joined the ranks of overseas investors in Chengdu.

As its plants have strict requirements for voltage stability, local officials streamlined administrative procedures and helped install high-quality wires in the shortest time to ensure the stability of power supply.

Huang Xinchu, Party chief of the city, said, "Only through building an international, first-class administrative environment can we gain a favorable position in the global economic landscape and seek better development."

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

Chengdu, Sichuan province, is famous for its giant panda refuge. Provided to China Daily