Hubei Daily All-Media Reporter Dai Wenhui

"I have given it for about 10 times, and I remember that the brand is Dongfeng Yipai." On September 9, at the Horgos Highway Port, there were long queues of domestic cars waiting to leave the customs. The "ferryman" Wang Rui was deeply impressed by the "made in Hubei" new energy vehicles.

On September 9, at the Horgos Highway Port, vehicles waiting to pass the customs lined up. (Photo provided by the Propaganda Department of the Horgos Municipal Party Committee)

On September 9, the "Training and Progressing for 70 Years" came to Horgos for a concentrated interview, visiting railway ports, highway ports and the sixth-generation national gates, and feel that China's door to open wider and wider.

The word "Horgos" means "where the camel caravan passes" in Mongolian, and in Kazakh it means "where wealth accumulates." In ancient times, tea and silk from the Central Plains were transported here and sold to the West. Horgos is now an important node on the "Belt and Road" initiative, a bridgehead for China's opening to the west, and is also my country's largest land export route for automobiles. In 2024, as many as 421,000 cars were exported from here.

Traditional cars are transported by "cage trucks". In contrast, delivery through "ferrymen" is more flexible, more efficient and less costly. At the same time, after the visa-free policy of China and Kazakhstan was implemented, with the joint efforts of customs, border inspection and other departments of China and Kazakhstan, the "self-driving export" exit customs clearance method was realized, and a large number of "ferrymen" began to appear.

Wang Rui was interviewed by reporters. (Photo by Dai Wenhui, a reporter from Hubei Daily All-Media)

"Click the new car from various customs supervision areas and drive it to the Horgos Highway Port. After completing customs clearance procedures, you can reach the Nurraor Port in Kazakhstan through the border bridge. After completing the delivery and acceptance, you can then take a multinational passenger bus to return to the country." Wang Rui used to drive a truck, started to come into contact with this industry in 2021, and became a full-time "ferryman" in 2024. He said that it takes about 12 to 15 hours to travel, and the reward is 500 yuan, and it can take more than ten trips a month.

The vehicle is under customs inspection. (Photo provided by the Propaganda Department of the Horgos Municipal Party Committee)

What makes Wang Rui happy is that the customs clearance process is constantly optimized, which is much more convenient than before. "We can see the reservation information on the mobile app in advance, and the information is synchronized to the customs system. When the vehicle arrives at the port, the driver does not need to get off the car without scanning, the data will be automatically compared, and the pole can be lifted in a few seconds. The whole process is easy and time-saving, allowing us to take the next order "flying" faster."

At present, more than 40 domestic car brands have come out of the Horgos Highway Port, including BYD, Geely, Chery, etc. In Wang Rui's impression, "Made in Hubei" new energy vehicles are increasingly appearing in Horgos. "Last month, more than 300 new energy vehicles from Dongfeng brand were sent from here to Uzbekistan, and the scene is quite large."

When Wang Rui first entered the industry, there were about 700 "ferrymen" in Horgos, and now, the number has increased to nearly 5,000. What grew together was the number of domestically produced cars: from January to July this year, 214,000 vehicles were exported at the Horgos Port, an increase of 14.6%, a record high; among which 121,000 commercial vehicles were exported at the highway port, an increase of 25.3%.

The vehicle was waiting to pass the customs at the Horgos Highway Port. (Photo provided by the Propaganda Department of the Horgos Municipal Party Committee)

In fact, it's not just cars. In the first seven months of this year, the import and export freight volume at Horgos Port reached 26.383 million tons, an increase of 2.9% year-on-year, of which the freight volume at highway ports increased by 36.2% year-on-year. "In the past, import and export commodities were mainly food, department stores, textiles, etc., but now they have expanded to hundreds of types such as engineering mechanical and electrical products, agricultural and sideline products, automobiles and high-tech products. The structure is constantly optimized and the added value is constantly increasing." said Li Jiang, deputy director of Horgos Customs.

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