Nestled deep within the Wuling Mountains, the city of Huaihua in Hunan Province lacks both coastal access and border connections. Yet, this inland hub has set its sights firmly on international trade. On August 15th, the "China's Dynamic Growth Research Tour" visited the Huaihua International Land Port. From the panoramic windows of the smart dispatch center on the 12th floor, two automated gantry cranes could be seen precisely handling containers in the port below, while in the distance, the Shanghai-Kunming and Zhangjiajie-Huaihua high-speed railways, along with the Baotou-Maoming Expressway, formed a visible network of transport arteries. This location, in the heart of the Wuling Mountains, is also Hunan Province's only freight consolidation center dedicated to the ASEAN market.

As a core hub of the Western Land-Sea Corridor, Huaihua handles 70% of the corridor's southbound cargo destined for ASEAN countries. Since the launch of ASEAN freight trains in 2021, the number has grown rapidly, with a cumulative total of 1,220 trains running by 2025. That same year, cold-chain container volume reached 3,708 TEUs, a seventeen-fold increase year-on-year, ranking first among land ports nationwide.

What has allowed this inland city to progressively open its "window" to the global market? According to Hu Gang, Deputy Director of the Huaihua International Land Port Economic Development Zone Management Committee, construction began in 2021, and the first cross-border train departed in January 2022, with 151 trains operating that year. The numbers have climbed steadily since, reaching 1,220 trains in 2025, surpassing the annual target. The latest weekly report from the New Western Land-Sea Corridor Operations (Hunan) Co., Ltd. shows that as of August 9, 2026, the Huaihua International Land Port has shipped a cumulative total of 42,602 TEUs, equivalent to 851 trains, a 15% increase year-on-year, reaching about 70% of last year's total volume. This cargo weighs approximately 750,000 tons and is valued at around 6.4 billion yuan.

"The growth rate of cross-border trains is excellent, reflecting the booming international trade in Huaihua driven by the global market," Hu Gang stated. Behind the significant rise in train departures, the structure of imports and exports is also evolving. Initially, the import-export ratio reached 1.7:1, with imports dominating, but this year's goal is to reduce it to 1.4:1. Imports primarily consist of mineral ores, grains, and Southeast Asian fruits, while exports are mainly daily necessities, new energy vehicles from Hunan and neighboring provinces, and local industrial products like bamboo goods and luggage.

In terms of routes, the China-Laos line saw the most rapid initial growth, while this year, both sea-rail intermodal and China-Vietnam services have increased by over 80%. According to the Huaihua Municipal Commerce Bureau, by the end of 2025, the port had established 200 domestic and international routes, with 7 major international logistics corridors operating regularly, connecting to 216 ports and stations across 69 countries and regions globally.

A key advantage of the Huaihua International Land Port is its possession of the Huaihua West Marshalling Yard, one of China's nine largest railway marshalling stations. This facility, the largest single investment project in Huaihua's history, has a daily marshalling capacity of 10,000 cars and an annual throughput of 186 million tons. Hunan Province currently has five international freight consolidation centers, including the Changsha South China International Logistics Hub, Yueyang Chenglingji Port, the Zhuzhou Hunan-Guangdong-Africa Sea-Rail Corridor, the Changsha Huanghua Airport Regional International Air Cargo Center, and the Huaihua International Land Port. Hu Gang explained that each port and land port has a distinct role, with Huaihua's specific mandate being to serve as Hunan's freight consolidation hub for ASEAN.

"ASEAN is a stable economic bloc, and the cooperation between China and ASEAN is the greatest confidence and driving force for the development of our Huaihua International Land Port," he said. Li Chun, Deputy Director of Huaihua Customs, noted that before the land port was built, Hunan's exports to ASEAN mainly relied on river-sea intermodal transport. Now, with the Huaihua International Land Port, cargo from Hunan and even the six central provinces can be consolidated here and shipped to Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and other ASEAN countries via rail-sea or rail-rail intermodal services. This rail-sea approach improves delivery times to Southeast Asia by 30% to 50%.

Hunan Litong Hengyu Cable Technology Co., Ltd., a long-established local enterprise near the port, specializes in the development, manufacturing, and service of wires and cables. On August 15th, Qian Peng, Assistant General Manager, outlined the cost benefits: local competitors exporting to ASEAN often have to transport goods by water to Shanghai or Guangzhou ports before shipping overseas. In contrast, his company can simply dispatch a container from the Huaihua port directly to its factory. "Our overall assessment is that shipping to the same destination from Huaihua is 400 to 500 yuan per ton cheaper than other routes, saving about 10,000 yuan per container." The transit time is also shorter. For example, shipping to Indonesia takes 7-8 days from Shanghai, but only about 5 days from Huaihua.

With annual sales of approximately 1.1 billion yuan, exports currently account for a modest portion of Litong Hengyu's business, primarily to Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Central Asia. Qian Peng expressed confidence in overseas expansion, citing that 60% to 70% of global power cable production capacity is in China and that Southeast Asian nations highly recognize Chinese grid technology standards. The company hopes to double its performance by leveraging the Huaihua International Land Port.

The port's display area on the 12th floor showcases local products like all-aluminum suitcases and bamboo keyboards. Staff explained that local luggage manufacturers exporting through the port can benefit from a "1-yuan luggage policy," where shipping a container costs just 1 yuan. This substantial subsidy reflects Huaihua's strategy to transform its "corridor advantages" into "industrial advantages," shifting from a simple "transit economy" to a "hub economy" and "industrial economy." Just two years ago, Huitong County in Huaihua produced almost no luggage. Today, leveraging the port's logistics convenience and cost advantages, the county has attracted 37 luggage companies, forming an industrial cluster with an annual output value exceeding 1.7 billion yuan. In 2025, Huaihua exported 1,874 TEUs of luggage products, a near doubling year-on-year, reaching 119 countries and regions worldwide.

Public information indicates that by the end of 2025, Huaihua set new goals for its international land port: by 2030, it aims to achieve "three 1,500s"—operating 1,500 freight trains, handling 15 million tons of cargo, and reaching a total output value of 150 billion yuan—to establish itself as a top-tier international land port.