The landmark entrance to Ceke Port of Entry in Ejine Banner, Alshaa League, North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region [Photo/IC]

The Ceke Port of Entry located on the China-Mongolia border in Ejine Banner, Alshaa League, North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, represents the epitome of the region’s development due to the reform and opening-up policy implemented in 1978.

In 1992, the regional government gave approval for the port to operate seasonally. At that time, it was a small, poor village.

With increasingly close cooperation between China and Mongolia, the port won approval to operate regularly in June 2005, and government liaison bodies, such as customs, were then also under construction. In Jan 2009, the port formally achieved full regular operations.

Wang Longjian, who has worked for customs in Ejine Banner for 11 years, witnessed the development of the port. He said that in the past, the annual import volume for the port was only several hundred tons while now 10 million tons of coal are imported through the port.

To handle such a large amount of goods, a series of measures have been introduced to improve government efficiency, a move that has paid off. On March 23, the daily import volume reached 14,000 tons and the monthly import volume in June was more than 170,000 tons, which were the highest of the past 26 years.

The busy port has helped many people in the two countries earn good incomes. According to Munk Batu, a businessman from Mongolia, the regional government has created a much better commercial environment than the one that existed 20 years ago, and he and his friends have made good money through importing and exporting goods between China and Mongolia.

Now that foreign trade is well developed in Ceke, the port has made more efforts to develop tourism through attracting tourism agencies and firms to develop tour routes to Mongolia, Russia and other countries in Eurasia.

In the future, the Ceke port will maintain its pace in expanding, opening-up and welcoming foreign cooperation with an inclusive attitude.

Sunset clouds create a beautiful view at Ceke port. [Photo/IC]