Longbang Port in Baise, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region [Photo/China News Service]

Longbang Port in Baise, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region recently gained approval from the State Council to further open up and become an international port, officials from the Baise bureau of commerce said on May 12.

Longbang Port, one of the three major ports in Guangxi, is the most convenient land passage connecting Southwest China, Vietnam and ASEAN, and is also an important hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. 

It is opposite to Tra Linh in Vietnam's Cao Bang Province and was upgraded into a national first-level port in January 2013. Construction on Longbang Port has achieved remarkable success, as its five-hectare border trade area is now China's largest among all land border trade areas with the most completed facilities. 

Guangxi and Vietnam signed a memorandum in 2007, laying out the plan for the Longbang-Tra Linh cross-border economic cooperation zone. 

The cargo import and export volume at Guangxi ports reached a record high in the first quarter of 2021. The overall export volume at Guangxi ports in the first three months of 2021 increased by 10.7 percent year-on-year to 32.13 million metric tons, and the overall clearance time at Guangxi ports now ranks among the best in China.