CHONGQING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a trade and logistics passage jointly built by Singapore and provincial-level regions of western China, is enjoying good momentum of growth, according to a new index.
The index, which measures the development of the corridor, was released on Friday at the third Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. The reading stood at 101.5 in the first quarter.
A reading above 100 reflects an upward trend in the corridor's development, while a reading below 100 indicates dented vitality.
The index contains multiple sub-indexes to gauge the corridor's development in areas such as logistics facilities, ports, trade and industries.
The sub-index for logistics costs, for example, came in at 92.1 in the first quarter, indicating that there is space for improvement in reducing the logistic costs of the corridor.
A report on the index stressed that more efforts should be made in exploring new markets and service modes and promoting the balanced development of the corridor.
Official data shows that cargo transported through the corridor surged almost 25 times from 2,934 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) at the end of 2017 to 72,895 TEUs in 2020. Enditem