A cargo plane is landed at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou province, July 13, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

With the launch of a new cargo route linking Guiyang and Moscow earlier this month, the number of international cargo routes connected to southwest China's Guizhou province has reached four. This expansion is creating a more efficient and convenient air passage for trade.

Guizhou is known for its mountainous landscapes in China, which poses challenges for road and rail transportation, necessitating the need to develop air traffic.

Guizhou Shuanglong Airport Economic Zone, with Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport as its core, was established in 2014. Besides the newly-opened route, it also operates the other three freight lines linking the provincial capital with India's Kolkata and Delhi, as well as Karachi in Pakistan.

Loaded with Russian seafood products such as snow crabs, king crabs, and sea urchins, the IL-76 cargo plane departed Moscow for Guiyang on July 13, and returned with 40 tonnes of Chinese goods, mainly electronic products.

The route is currently customized according to the market. But the operator said that if the operation is well received, the round flights will become regular starting from September, which will drive Guizhou's annual import and export trade volume to around 3 billion yuan (about $420.7 million), with a cargo throughput of around 15,000 tonnes.

It used to take 60 to 70 hours to transport seafood from Russia to Guizhou by rail and sea. The new air route shortens the transportation time to 12 to 13 hours, said Su Bowenhao with Guizhou First Catch Supply Chain Management Company.

According to Su, the company plans to open a route to Norway in the second half of the year, aiming to import salmon and export Chinese goods sold on e-commerce platforms.

Up to July 9, the other three routes have operated 156 flights, and transported a total of 1,098 tonnes of exported goods worth $50.81 million, and 416 tonnes of imported goods worth $2.97 million, official data showed.

Foreign trade enterprises in Guizhou have played an important role in the launch of the cargo routes, by docking the supplies and demands of markets at both ends, applying for government subsidies, and negotiating lease agreements with airline companies.

"With these routes, we can export clothing accessories, machine parts, electronic components and other commodities to South Asia, and import India's specialty crab," said Wu Xiong, director of Guizhou Coconut Elephant Supply Chain Management Company.

Wu said that the company plans to open an international cargo route from Guiyang to Ho Chi Minh City to import Vietnamese green lobster and fruits, and export more Guizhou commodities.