A newly established sea-rail corridor connecting Pakistan with Chengdu is creating a faster route for Pakistani agricultural exports to southwestern China, beginning with dried chilies. Beyond reducing transportation time, the corridor could provide Pakistani producers with more direct access to one of China’s major food-processing and consumer markets.
Li Jiarun, head of trade business at the Chengdu International Railway Port Economic and Technological Development Zone Construction and Development Company, said the initiative was not limited to transporting Pakistani chilies. Its broader purpose was to develop a new model of international agricultural trade serving southwestern China.
Dried chilies provide an important starting point. China imported around 400,000 metric tonnes of dried chilies in 2025, with Pakistan, India and Myanmar among the leading suppliers. Sichuan and Chongqing are particularly important markets because of their strong hotpot culture and extensive food and beverage industries.
Traditionally, much of the imported chili supply destined for southwestern China has passed through distribution centres in northern and central parts of the country. Multiple stages of unloading, storage and redistribution have increased both transportation costs and delivery times.
The new corridor offers a more direct alternative. Pakistani chilies are shipped to Qinzhou Port in Guangxi, cleared through customs and then transferred to rail services for Qingbaijiang in Chengdu. Compared with the traditional route through Qingdao, the new arrangement can shorten delivery times by approximately seven to 10 days and reduce logistics costs by around 1,000 yuan per metric tonne.
These savings are made possible by the shorter maritime journey between Pakistan and Qinzhou and by reducing the number of transfers required after the cargo enters China.
The project’s significance, however, extends beyond transportation. Qingbaijiang already possesses logistics infrastructure, bonded warehouses and temperature-controlled storage facilities capable of supporting agricultural trade. The longer-term objective is to integrate transportation with storage, trade, processing and distribution, positioning Chengdu as a gateway connecting foreign agricultural suppliers with markets across southwestern China.
The company plans to use Pakistani dried chilies as the foundation for developing a larger chili distribution centre for the region.
More than 80 metric tonnes of high-quality Pakistani dried chilies, carried in eight containers, have already reached Chengdu International Railway Port. The cargo entered China through Qinzhou Port before travelling to Chengdu through the sea-rail network of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
The shipment is the first to reach China under an agricultural cooperation project associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Following the initial eight containers, more than 900 metric tonnes of additional Pakistani dried chilies are being transported, with plans to turn the service into a regular operation.
Chengdu International Railway Port is seeking to use its strategic transport connections to expand international trade and support industrial activity. As an important link between the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and China-Europe freight services, the port provides cross-border logistics, bonded storage, distribution and trading facilities.
According to Li, China already has three major chili distribution centres in Qingdao, Henan and Guizhou. Sichuan and Chongqing, despite being among the country’s major chili-consuming regions, have lacked a specialised large-scale distribution hub.
Pakistani chilies entering through the new corridor are being supplied to the food industry, including major catering businesses such as Haidilao, local hotpot restaurants and condiment manufacturers, including producers of Pixian Douban.
The initiative is consequently developing into a broader supply chain connecting overseas cultivation with international transportation, regional distribution, food processing and final consumption.
For Pakistan, the corridor provides another route for agricultural products to enter the Chinese market. For southwestern China, it offers more direct access to imported agricultural supplies required by its expanding hotpot, condiment and food-processing industries.
The arrival of Pakistani chilies in Chengdu therefore represents more than a new transportation link. It demonstrates how international corridors can develop into platforms for trade, agricultural cooperation and industrial integration, while connecting Pakistani producers more directly with China’s regional food economy.
