Chengdu Guangyuan "Round-Trip Circulation" Special Railway Freight Line Launches First Service: The Qingbaijiang "Trend" Logic Behind a Single Freight Train Service

Jing Daily Editor: Zhao Boyuan

Chengdu–Guangyuan “one-way return loop” special train Photo source: provided by Chengdu Qingbaijiang District

On March 24, a special train loaded with “Sichuan-made” auto parts sounded its horn and departed from Chengdu Chengyu Station. This special train adopts an innovative “go-and-return block train container source circulation” model. At the same time, the Guangyuan base of the China-Europe Railway Express gathering center held an on-site unveiling, marking a substantive step forward in building a new logistics cooperation system of “hub to hub” between the two places. The train follows the China–Central Asia Railway Express route all the way west, injecting strong new momentum into “Sichuan goods going out of Sichuan.”

Such scenes have become routine in Chengdu’s Qingbaijiang District. For this former old industrial base that once “expanded the district because of the factories,” every train’s departure is a redefinition of the city’s identity—if it doesn’t have access to the sea, then it relies on “the tide.”

A decade ago, Qingbaijiang was still the “industrial rust belt” of two major enterprises—Sichuan Chemical and Cheng Steel. Today, the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu–Chongqing) has cumulatively operated more than 36,000 trips, reaching 161 cities at home and abroad. Goods can reach the European interior in as fast as 9 days and reach Southeast Asia in 3 days. According to statistics, in 2025, Qingbaijiang’s total import and export value of foreign trade reached RMB 53.17 billion, with port-based trade increasing by 60% year-on-year.

With the corridors opened, industries are also quietly upgrading. Chengdu Zhengxi Intelligent Equipment Group Co., Ltd., which has been rooted in Qingbaijiang for 17 years, successfully earned the designation of a national-level “Little Giant” enterprise specializing in niche areas, refined products, and novel solutions in 2025. It achieved a transformation and upgrading from traditional manufacturing to a provider of integrated solutions for intelligent equipment. Annual output value reached RMB 420 million, and its products are well sold in more than 40 countries and regions worldwide. From heavy industry to high-end precision, Qingbaijiang’s industrial map is being redrawn.

Behind the upgrading of manufacturing is support from the innovation ecosystem. Pilot-test industry bases such as Wenlan Zhigu and the Southwest Environmental Protection Institute have been put in place one after another. Two organic solid-waste technologies developed at the Southwest Pilot-test Base of the Environmental Protection Institute won the Bronze Award at the German Nuremberg Invention Exhibition, forming a full chain of “scientific and technological innovation—lab and pilot testing—industrial incubation—production and manufacturing.”

At present, Qingbaijiang District’s “15th Five-Year Plan and 16th Five-Year Plan” blueprint is already taking shape: building a “comprehensive mega-hub” with stronger functions, constructing “multi-dimensional mega-corridors” with broader reach, and strengthening an “open mega-platform” with better services. When the “steel iron caravan” sets out from this land toward the distance, an inland city is writing its own new interpretation of the character “tide.” If it doesn’t rely on the sea, it relies on the tide of openness, the tide of industry, and the tide of innovation.

Jing Daily (Economic News)