1) The Southern Transport Corridor (STC) comprises a network of railroads linking Chongqing to Qinzhou Port in southern Guangxi province, a gateway to South-east Asia, including Singapore via sea.

2) On Thursday (Aug 31), the governments of Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou and Gansu signed a framework agreement to collaborate on the STC.

3) It is part of a newly conceived trade route known as the Yu-Gui-Xin route, which is the Chinese abbreviation for Chongqing (Yu), Guangxi (Gui) and Singapore (Xin).

4) It aims to encourage businesses to move goods from Chongqing and other western provinces such Guangxi, Guizhou and Gansu via railway to the Beibu Gulf (Gulf of Tokin) of Guangxi. From there, they could be shipped to Singapore and onward to other markets around the world.

5) When the network is fully integrated, freight from Singapore to Chongqing will take one week going by sea and rail, instead of the current three weeks going by sea and river via Shanghai and the Yangtze River.

6) No timeline has been spelt out for the completion of the STC yet.