Thirty-three years ago, it was also Jinqiao Wheel and Weihai Port that a milestone scene occurred in the history of China's opening up. That is, the first opening of the Golden Bridge Wheel in 1990 is definitely an epoch-making milestone.
This ** is the historical image of the first time that the Jinqiao Ferry sailed from Incheon, South Korea to Weihai Port on September 16, 1990. At that time, China and South Korea had not yet established diplomatic relations, and the only way to get from China to South Korea was through Hong Kong, China. This direct flight has brought Weihai and even China's opening up and cooperation with South Korea into a new stage. More than 30 years have passed, when we look back at the Golden Bridge from today's perspective, this "golden bridge on the sea" erected between China and South Korea has had a positive and far-reaching impact on Weihai, Shandong and even China.
From the direct shipping of the two ports to the linkage of the four ports, it has gone through the unremitting exploration and efforts of generations of Weihai people to expand opening up and embrace the world.
From Weihai Port to Incheon Port, the straight-line distance is 233 nautical miles. With the opening of the Jinqiao steamer, Weihai seized the new idea of "borrowing Han Xingwei" and opened the prelude to economic and trade cooperation with South Korea. Frequent first-class exchanges have put forward a higher demand for international logistics. Creative truckload ideas are on the agenda.
Shan Guofang, former deputy general manager of Weidong Shipping, said that they all think that it is a fantasy, and it is not a simple matter to change the legal policies of many countries if they want to do this. Somebody has to eat crabs to push this forward. Later, after more than half a year, a comprehensive investigation was conducted on the transportation modes of various countries in the world and China's current relevant policies, and after expert demonstration, it was indeed feasible.
In September 2004, the Ministry of Communications formed a joint research group to carry out the vehicle logistics project between China and South Korea
In October 2005, the research report passed the joint review by the Ministry of Communications, the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Public Security and other departments
In November 2005, the 13th China-South Korea Maritime Talks identified the Weihai-Incheon port as a pilot to promote the development of China-South Korea vehicle logistics projects
On September 7, 2006, the tripartite representatives of the Trilateral Ministerial Meeting of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea signed the Action Plan of the Trilateral Ministerial Meeting on Maritime Transport and Logistics of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
In September 2010, China and South Korea officially signed the Agreement on the Transport of Automobile Cargo by Land and Sea.
Li Dongning, of the China-South Korea Passenger and Cargo Liner Professional Committee of the China Shipowners Association, said that the agreement played an epoch-making significance at that time. Prior to this, China's agreements on the transportation of goods by car with its neighboring countries were bordered by land. In 2015, the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement was signed, and the above two agreements should be the basis for the law of the four-port linkage.
In September 2020, with the consent of the Ministry of Transport of China, Weihai reached a common intention with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Customs Service of the Republic of Korea: it agreed to carry out the trial operation of China-South Korea land-sea intermodal transport (Weihai-Incheon) vehicle transportation. On November 15, 2022, China and South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding, and the China-South Korea multimodal vehicle transportation project finally ushered in the moment of launch.
*: Weihai News.