This year marks the tenth anniversary of the the Belt and Road Initiative.Over the past decade,the joint construction of the the Belt and Road has transformed from concept to action,from vision to reality,and has become a popular international public product and a new platform for international cooperation.Chengdu Eastern New Area,located at Tianfu International Airport,is accelerating the construction of a global aviation gateway hub,enhancing its node advantages and hub functions on the Silk Road in the air,and helping Chengdu build an international gateway hub city.

On November 9th,the 3rd Silk Road in the air International Aviation Cooperation Forum was held in Chengdu.With the theme of deepening high-level cooperation on the Silk Road in the air and promoting high-quality development of the the Belt and Road,the forum attracted more than 300 representatives from aviation manufacturing enterprises,aviation universities,research institutes and other units.

At the Silk Road in the air Forum,Chengdu Eastern New Area signed strategic cooperation for the development of the aviation industry with China Aviation Planning and Design Institute Co.,Ltd.,China Aviation Industry Culture Center,Asia Airlines,and Paibo Aerospace,jointly constructing an aviation cultural complex,strategic cooperation for the development of the"aviation+"industry,and research and development and manufacturing of aviation pipelines,to contribute aviation strength to promoting global mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity in the new decade.

In 2013,when the President Xi Jinping visited Kazakhstan and Indonesia,he successively proposed to jointly build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road,and the the Belt and Road initiative began to shape the future.

In 2016,Chengdu managed Jianyang and achieved a millennium transformation in its urban spatial pattern from two mountains sandwiched between one city to one mountain connected to two wings.On May 27 of the same year,with a total investment of 71.86 billion yuan,Chengdu Tianfu International Airport,a national level international aviation hub,officially began construction.

On April 28,2020,the Eastern New Area of Chengdu was established,positioned as a new gateway for the country to open up to the west and south,and a new platform for the construction of the Chengdu Chongqing dual city economic circle.One year later,Chengdu Tianfu International Airport was officially opened,becoming the second largest civil aviation airport in China after Beijing Daxing Airport,and the third city in Chinese Mainland with two airports after Beijing and Shanghai.

On December 7,2023,the annual passenger throughput of Chengdu Aviation Hub(Chengdu Tianfu International Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport)exceeded 70 million for the first time.After Shanghai,Beijing,and Guangzhou,Chengdu has become the fourth city in mainland China with an annual air passenger volume exceeding 70 million,and has successfully been promoted to the 70 million level aviation city club in mainland China.

For many years,Chengdu Eastern New Area has combined multiple advantages,strengthened the gateway hub function connecting the world,and helped build a wide coverage,close connection,and efficient transfer route network,creating a central hub hub airport in western China.After the opening of Tianfu Airport International Port,it has provided a strong support for the the Belt and Road trade cooperation,industrial collaboration,exchange and interaction.Since then,the Eastern New Area,which has natural geographical advantages for the the Belt and Road countries in Europe,Africa and Southeast Asia,has become the most convenient window for the western region to connect with the the Belt and Road with the birth of Tianfu International Airport,turning"the hard roads toward Shu"into"global access".

On March 26,2023,Tianfu Airport began operating international(regional)flights for the first time,opening a new gateway for connecting Southwest China with the world,and accelerating the development of Tianfu Airport.In July,Tianfu Airport exceeded 20 million passengers for the first time;In September,it exceeded 30 million people for the first time;In November,the number of passengers exceeded 40 million for the first time,achieving a triple jump in passenger throughput of tens of millions,setting a new record for the net annual growth rate of passenger throughput at Chinese civil transportation airports.

Today,Tianfu International Airport has mastered the advantages of air transit to connect with the the Belt and Road countries,built a port function platform to link the the Belt and Road countries,and initially built a hub channel and air bridge to connect with the the Belt and Road countries.Tianfu International Airport has become a shining star airport in the Silk Road Economic Belt,dotted at the starting point of connecting the southwest hinterland with the the Belt and Road,and all of this is just the beginning of accelerating the construction of the Eastern New Area.

To open the the Belt and Road international production capacity cooperation pattern,the radiation effect brought by the opening port function of Tianfu International Airport is indispensable.

In order to gather the resources of the central and western regions and build a window and platform linking the the Belt and Road countries,the Eastern New Area focuses on foreign trade,intelligent manufacturing,biomedicine,international exchanges and other directions,opening the window and platform of the the Belt and Road countries.

On the north side of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport,the Tianfu Comprehensive Bonded Zone is under construction with great enthusiasm.

The Tianfu Comprehensive Bonded Zone innovatively adopts the concept of district port integration and is the first airport type comprehensive protected zone in Sichuan Province.The total investment of the project is about 760 million yuan,covering an area of approximately 138 acres.It consists of No.1 High Standard Warehouse,No.2 Fresh Cold Chain Bonded Logistics Center,No.3 Biomedical Bonded Cold Chain Logistics Center,and No.4 Cold Chain Public Warehouse,with a total capacity of more than 60000 tons of goods.

A variety of fruits,frozen aquatic products,edible aquatic animals and other products have crossed thousands of kilometers from other countries to come here,which is one of the achievements of the Eastern New Area in achieving zero breakthrough in imported fresh produce,exploring innovative business models such as direct delivery to the origin and cross-border e-commerce of fresh produce.

In the Eastern New Area,strengthening the import supply chain of fresh and cold chain products,establishing a distribution base for exporting consumer products,and strengthening cross-border e-commerce product trade cooperation have become the three major weapons to strengthen the foreign trade field.The existence of Tianfu Comprehensive Bonded Zone will also open up new development formats for logistics and supply chain management,and become a new center for international supply chain resource allocation,a new platform for collaborative opening of the Chengdu Chongqing Economic Circle and a new model for high-quality development of airport type comprehensive bonded zones.

On the other hand,the joint construction of the the Belt and Road initiative has led to the opening of a new path of common prosperity and development,which has brought more opportunities for enterprises to sail out to the sea,and also allowed more advanced technologies to come in.As an important aviation industry base radiating to the west and affecting the whole country,the Eastern New Area has gathered nearly 100 large-scale aerospace enterprises,as well as nearly 600 industrial cooperation and supporting enterprises such as Barton Electronics,Sichuan Kaimai,and Sichuan Weili Decoration Materials.

The solid foundation of the aviation industry provides strong support for the development of the the Belt and Road.On this basis,the Eastern New Area also relies on the hangar resources of Tianfu International Airport,gives play to the advantages of the bearing space of the manufacturing industry,centers on the industrial chain of advanced manufacturing and inspection services such as intelligent hardware and equipment,new energy vehicles,high-end medical devices,and establishes an industrial chain division and cooperation mechanism with more countries to jointly build the the Belt and Road.

As a new gateway for the country to open up to the west and south and link the the Belt and Road countries,Chengdu Eastern New Area adheres to the new development concept and actively integrates into the the Belt and Road construction.Breakthroughs have been made in many aspects,from economy to culture,laying a solid foundation for the future development of the New Area.

Over the past decade,Chengdu and the the Belt and Road co construction countries have deepened their all-round cooperation,and the level of opening up has continued to deepen.At present,the co construction of the the Belt and Road is at a critical stage of high-quality development,which requires more forward-looking thinking to constantly consolidate development achievements and meet challenges.

The third the Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit Forum announced China's eight actions to support high-quality joint construction of the the Belt and Road:building a three-dimensional connectivity network of the the Belt and Road,supporting the construction of an open world economy,conducting practical cooperation,promoting green development,promoting scientific and technological innovation,supporting people to people exchanges,building a clean road,and improving the the Belt and Road international cooperation mechanism.

In order to implement the eight actions,the Eastern New Area will continue to build a central hub hub airport in western China.On the one hand,it will accelerate the opening of airport ports,strengthen the"three zones and one hub"opening platform,achieve multiple advantages,and promote the expansion of channels for foreign investment and foreign trade to increase traffic.On the other hand,in the context of fully promoting the construction of the Silk Road in the air,relying on the characteristic industrial clusters and unique flow resource advantages of the Eastern New Area,it will provide resilient and secure guarantees for the industrial chain and supply chain,becoming a link connecting the world.

Looking back at the past,the development of the Silk Road in the Eastern New Area has achieved fruitful results.Looking ahead,the future of the Silk Road in the Eastern New Area is promising.Tianfu International Airport is giving the Eastern New Area a key driving force for takeoff.This international airport consumption vitality city will open a new chapter for the Silk Road in the air.(Qi Yisheng, Du can)