A Boeing 747 freighter operated by Russian AirBridgeCargo Airlines lands in Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport on Dec 2. [Photo provided by the Xiamen bureau of transport]
A Boeing 747 freighter operated by Russian AirBridgeCargo Airlines landed in Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport on Dec 2, marking the official launch of the cross-continental air cargo route linking the coastal city in East China's Fujian province with Liege, Belgium.
Liege boasts a convenient transport network due to its advantageous location in the center of Europe. The new route will not only alleviate air transport pressure in Xiamen and its surrounding areas during the busy cross-border e-commerce season, but also help relevant businesses accelerate their market expansion, said a senior executive of Hongyuan Airport Logistics.
According to officials at the city's transport bureau, the air cargo volume from Xiamen to Europe and North America has seen a leap recently due to the surge in orders from the import and export-oriented processing industry.
To meet the increasing demand, the bureau has worked with the customs department to introduce several cross-continent cargo routes over the past two months, with the aim of achieving high-quality foreign trade growth under the new "dual circulation" economic development pattern.
China has decided to extend its visa waiver policy to ordinary passport holders from Canada and the United Kingdom starting from Feb 17.
Forty-one new port-of-entry duty-free shops have been established nationwide, with Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport, Xiamen Wutong Passenger Wharf, and Xiamen International Cruise Center included on the list.
