This year marks the tenth anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

On August 27, a cargo ship, fully loaded with more than 1,000 tons of asphalt from the Middle East region, arrived at the Chenglingji Port, Yueyang. This was Yueyang's first batch of imported asphalt from the BRI countries and regions.

The asphalt was imported by the Hunan Chenglingji Gangfa Industrial Investment Group, a company under the management of the Chenglingji New Port Area. After over-a-month transnational shipment and sea-river intermodal transport, the asphalt arrived in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, and was then shipped to Chenglingji Port. After going through the customs clearance procedures, the asphalt was delivered to a waterproof material company in Hubei Province on August 29.

Asphalt, a residue from the distillation of petroleum, is always used in waterproofing of roofs, floors and underground structures, and anti-corrosion of wood and steel. China has a large demand for imported asphalt, with a relatively high import dependency. Asphalt is one of the main imported petroleum products in China. In recent years, the domestic asphalt processing techniques and level have reached international standards. However, the asphalt produced in the Middle East shows advantages in the smell, ductility, gloss, stability and anti-aging performance. As China has been pushing forward infrastructure construction, the demand for asphalt is accordingly increased. Thus, the import volume of single asphalt product is expected to hit record high.

The Middle East boasts abundant energy resources and enjoys high reputation in the international market. This June, the asphalt supplier from the region came to Yueyang and reached a strategic cooperation agreement, which marked the beginning of the cooperation of Yueyang and other central regions of China with the BRI countries in asphalt trade. The asphalt industrial chains in Yueyang and other central regions of China, covering supply and construction, will be improved.

The Chenglingji New Port Area will take this opportunity to further optimize its layout of infrastructure construction materials supply, enhance the cooperation with the Middle East region, and contribute to high-quality implementation of BRI.

"We will further expand the import of asphalt, with an estimated annual import volume of about 300,000 tons of various asphalt products," said the manager of the Hunan Chenglingji Gangfa Industrial Investment Group.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunantoday