The SCO International Hub Port Automobile Trading Center is launched in Qingdao, Shandong on March 1. [Photo/WeChat account: qdfbwx]

The SCO International Hub Port Automobile Trading Center was launched in Qingdao, Shandong on March 1.

Covering an area of about 8,000 square meters, the center is committed to providing one-stop services for domestic and international car dealers, aiming to support the SCO demonstration zone in Shandong to expand exports of the "new three", namely electric vehicles for transport of persons, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells.

The center is expected to complete transactions of around 6,000 vehicles, including new cars, used cars, and parallel-imported vehicles, throughout the year.

Leveraging the advantageous location of the "land-sea-air-rail" four-port interconnected transportation zone, the center provides integrated services for domestic and foreign enterprises, including vehicle procurement, registration transfer, one-stop customs clearance and inspection, logistics and warehousing, and financing. This creates a one-stop service for the entire process, including vehicle procurement, warehousing, transportation and export, thereby aiding the SCO International Hub Port in becoming an important automobile distribution and trading center in Northeast Asia.

In 2023, the SCO demonstration zone saw 863 China-Europe freight trains, an 11.4 percent increase compared to the previous year, with imports and exports valued at 7.12 billion yuan ($989.61 million). Among them, over 12,000 commercial vehicles were shipped from the SCO demonstration zone to SCO member countries.

Earlier this year, Shandong issued 21 measures to support the high-quality development of the SCO demonstration zone, which stated that a comprehensive service platform for the export of used cars will be established in the zone, aiming to expand the scale of used car exports and establish a distribution center for the export of the "new three".