In the first half of 2026, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Demonstration Zone successfully operated 461 China-Europe freight trains and 197 TIR international road transport vehicles. Its foreign trade volume grew by 10.5% year-on-year, with international logistics corridors connecting East Asia to Japan and South Korea, West Asia to Europe, North to Mongolia and Russia, and South to ASEAN nations. The zone is leveraging logistics connectivity to drive trade prosperity.

On July 31, a driver named Gu, who was resting on a return trip, sent a voice message to colleagues about his first journey to Vientiane, Laos, driving a GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion) cold-chain truck. Simultaneously, at the SCO Demonstration Zone's "Silk Road E-commerce" Comprehensive Service Base, another GMS cold-chain vehicle loaded with frozen vegetables from Shandong province departed for Bangkok, Thailand, via the Mohan border crossing and Laos. These two new GMS international road transport routes were established within a single month, marking a significant expansion of the zone's logistics network.

Integrating Trade and Logistics for Mutual Growth

Deepening the synergy between trade and logistics is a key priority for the SCO Demonstration Zone in building a high-level international cooperation platform for the Belt and Road Initiative. In the first half of 2026, the zone operated 461 China-Europe freight trains and 197 TIR international road transport vehicles. It successfully launched the "TIR+ bonded" cross-border e-commerce import business. Professional platforms, including the "Silk Road E-commerce" Comprehensive Service Base, the SCO International Green Agricultural Products Expo and Trade Center, and the Qingdao International Energy Trading Center, are gaining momentum, creating a mutually reinforcing ecosystem for cross-border logistics and trade. The unhindered flow of goods and trade across four directions has driven a 10.5% year-on-year increase in foreign trade volume for the zone, demonstrating how logistics connectivity directly fuels trade prosperity.

Building a Comprehensive Global Logistics Network

Logistics corridors serve as vital links between production and consumption. The SCO Demonstration Zone is advancing the construction of a comprehensive international logistics corridor, continuously optimizing an integrated "sea, land, air, and rail" logistics service network, and accelerating its role as a "gateway" for SCO member states to the Asia-Pacific market. Vehicles with GMS certificates can travel smoothly across China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, avoiding multiple cargo transfers and reloading within a one-year validity period. "Compared to traditional sea-rail intermodal transport, GMS transport enables direct cross-border point-to-point delivery, meeting the needs for time-sensitive goods and reducing logistics costs for businesses," said Gao Hanyu, Manager of the Multimodal Transport Department at Qingdao Shangkong Cross-border E-commerce Operations Co., Ltd. Through the "GMS + TIR" dual-channel collaboration, the SCO Demonstration Zone has successfully established two major logistics corridors: one northward to Eurasia and another southward to ASEAN, creating a flexible and efficient cross-border road freight system. To date, the zone has launched 2 GMS international transport routes and 6 TIR international road transport routes, reaching countries like Laos, Thailand, Russia, and Azerbaijan. In 2026, it has dispatched 231 vehicles with a total cargo value of 2.1 billion yuan.

Expanding Rail and Hub Networks

Zang Yuanqi, Director of the First Industry Development Department at the SCO Demonstration Zone Management Committee, stated that the sustained opening of the "GMS + TIR" dual corridor will more effectively help Qingdao enterprises tap into both the SCO member states and Southeast Asian markets simultaneously. The China-Europe freight train, a "steel bridge" connecting Asia and Europe, is another crucial link for the zone's opening-up. The SCO Demonstration Zone has built an international logistics corridor that connects East Asia to Japan and South Korea, West Asia to Europe, North to Mongolia and Russia, and South to ASEAN. It regularly operates specialty trains for home appliances, tires, commercial vehicles, and grains, and has customized supply chain trains for companies like Haier, Hisense, Linglong, and Chery, serving over 7,000 foreign trade enterprises. From January to June 2026, the zone operated 461 China-Europe freight trains, with an import and export cargo value of 332 million U.S. dollars, a 115.6% year-on-year increase, effectively driving Qingdao's foreign trade growth. The zone is also intensifying its cross-border logistics node layout, establishing partnerships with 21 ports and hub cities in provinces such as Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Yunnan. It has set up 4 overseas consolidation centers in Indija, Serbia; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Moscow, Russia; and Vientiane, Laos, and deployed 8 overseas warehouses in countries like Germany and Serbia, building a comprehensive "corridor + hub + overseas warehouse" logistics service network.

Activating Regional Trade in the SCO Region

Recently, the Qingdao International Energy Trading Center, in collaboration with Shandong Port International Trade Group Rizhao Co., Ltd., successfully completed the competitive bidding sale of 7,000 tons of stored petroleum coke, setting a new single-batch transaction record for the center. To address bottlenecks and challenges in local economic cooperation among SCO countries, such as regulatory differences, cumbersome customs procedures, and inconvenient settlements, the SCO Demonstration Zone has launched and operated trade and service platforms. These include the SCO Economic and Trade Comprehensive Service Platform, the "Silk Road E-commerce" Comprehensive Service Base, the SCO International Green Agricultural Products Expo and Trade Center, and the Qingdao International Energy Trading Center, providing specialized and precise support for two-way trade within the SCO region. The Qingdao International Energy Trading Center plays a key role in advancing the opening-up of the oil and gas industry chain. Since its operation, it has launched 6 trading products, including petroleum, crude oil tank capacity, natural gas, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas, and petroleum coke. It has attracted over 670 members, facilitated the first online bidding for LNG procurement, and processed the first cross-border RMB settlement transaction, unblocking bottlenecks in the energy industry chain. The SCO International Green Agricultural Products Expo and Trade Center has achieved full integration of cold-chain storage, online trading, and offline exhibition. In chili trade, it is expected to facilitate over 200,000 tons of online transactions for chili and other agricultural products, with a transaction value exceeding 3 billion yuan in 2026. In fruit processing and trading, the Jiawo Huanxian North China headquarters project is nearing completion, with its first production line expected to start operations this year. The "Silk Road E-commerce" Comprehensive Service Base has initially formed an industrial ecosystem centered on cross-border e-commerce, supported by logistics, operations, and training. The base has attracted key projects such as Chuanhua Intelligent Highway Port, JD.com's Asia No. 1 Warehouse, the Qingdao branch of Russian e-commerce platform Wildberries, and the Ozon cross-border e-commerce industry-academia-research project. The Ozon project, through a "theory + practice + combat" teaching model, equips students with end-to-end operational skills for the Russian Ozon platform, addressing the shortage of cross-border e-commerce talent for enterprises and fostering an innovative ecosystem of "government resources + industry demand + university education."

Enhancing Comprehensive Service Systems

Gradually improving its comprehensive service support system, the SCO Demonstration Zone continues to provide full-chain support for enterprises expanding into overseas markets. In March 2026, the zone released its first comprehensive policy package to systematically support local economic cooperation. This package includes 20 specific measures across three areas: expanding the core business of local economic cooperation, enhancing comprehensive service capabilities, and broadening the network of diverse economic cooperation. It has established a full-chain support system of "deepening cooperation—supporting cooperation—expanding cooperation." In financial support, the zone's "Capital Port" online financial supermarket was launched, integrating 225 fully online financial products and supporting cross-border payment and settlement in over 130 currencies. This platform covers core enterprise needs such as cross-border settlement, financing and credit enhancement, and exchange rate hedging, helping reduce cross-border transaction costs and improve capital turnover efficiency. In terms of foreign-related legal services, the zone has built a big data platform for foreign-related law, established cooperation with 39 quasi-legal service institutions, conducted in-depth country-specific research, and set up overseas legal service stations in Moscow, Almaty, and Tashkent to provide enterprises with legal risk prevention and rights protection. To address the common issue of supply-demand mismatch in local economic cooperation among SCO countries, the SCO Demonstration Zone has established regular collaboration mechanisms with key provinces, cities, industrial parks, and enterprises in multiple SCO member states. It has built a smooth and interconnected economic cooperation network for enterprises and initiated the "China-SCO Industrial Park Alliance." The zone regularly holds "Into the SCO" brand events, using online and offline matchmaking to facilitate the precise landing and efficient matching of cooperation projects and trade orders.

Logistics networks are expanding, platforms are growing, and systems are breaking new ground. From the densifying international logistics corridors and the empowering professional platforms for energy trading, agricultural trade, and cross-border e-commerce, to the improving support systems including the "Financial Supermarket" and foreign-related legal services, the SCO Demonstration Zone is leveraging its platform strength to break through bottlenecks in local economic cooperation among SCO countries. It is providing stronger support for the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.