CHONGQING, China (AP) — Activity at Chinese ports has rebounded since U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping agreed to resume trade talks and put off imposing massive tariffs on each other’s exports. That’s true, also, of inland ports along China’s mighty Yangtze River.
The Chongqing International Logistics Hub Park, more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the nearest sea port, serves as a critical element of a land-sea trading corridor and part of China’s vast Belt and Road Initiative connecting with countries across Europe, Africa and Asia. About 20 trains leave every day, some for Russia and others toward Europe via Central Asia.
Top exports include electronics, machinery and electric vehicles, including sedans assembled at Avatr Technology’s factory in Chongqing, long a major river port and industrial center. Imports include auto parts, luxury goods and medical equipment.
Trucks leave the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station after loading their containers, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Trucks leave the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station after loading their containers, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A machine unloading container at the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A machine unloading container at the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Machines load containers to the trucks at the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Machines load containers to the trucks at the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers watch as a train loaded with containers leave Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers watch as a train loaded with containers leave Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A machine loads a container on trucks as a train loaded with containers leave the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A machine loads a container on trucks as a train loaded with containers leave the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A truck drives past Changan’s Avatr car models waiting for shipment at a logistics center near the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A truck drives past Changan’s Avatr car models waiting for shipment at a logistics center near the Chongqing Railway Container Terminal Station, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers assemble the Avatr car model in the Changan Automobile’s Global Research and Development Center, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers assemble the Avatr car model in the Changan Automobile’s Global Research and Development Center, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers assemble the Avatr car model in the Changan Automobile’s Global Research and Development Center, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers assemble the Avatr car model in the Changan Automobile’s Global Research and Development Center, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers assemble the Avatr car model in the Changan Automobile’s Global Research and Development Center, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers assemble the Avatr car model in the Changan Automobile’s Global Research and Development Center, in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Policemen stand on duty at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Policemen stand on duty at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Cranes load containers at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Cranes load containers at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A cargo vessel prepares to dock at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A cargo vessel prepares to dock at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers stand watch as cranes load containers in Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Workers stand watch as cranes load containers in Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province on May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A staff monitors container offloading in the main control room at the Yangluo Port on the Yangtze River in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A staff monitors container offloading in the main control room at the Yangluo Port on the Yangtze River in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Some 900 kilometers (560 miles) downriver from Chongqing, the Yangluo port is another major distribution center connecting China’s eastern seaboard with its vast inland regions. In 2024, it handled 2 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units), but in April activity nearly stopped as trade was disrupted by the tariffs as Trump escalated his trade war.
It resumed from mid-May, after the China and the U.S. agreed to step back and talk rather than to escalate trade tensions further.
___
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
