The signing ceremony for the planned cold chain logistics center is held in the Nantong FTZ on Jan 7. [Photo/WeChat account: gh_78ba52d6e1ed]

China Co-op Group Co Ltd's planned Yangtze River Delta (YRD) (Nantong) cold chain logistics center, which will cost about 2 billion yuan ($308.88 million), was officially signed on Jan 7 with the Nantong Free Trade Zone in the Nantong Economic & Technological Development Area, or the NETDA, according to zone officials.

The NETDA is located in Nantong – the prefecture-level city in East China's Jiangsu province – and the new center in the Nantong FTZ will integrate trading in international frozen goods, the bonded processing of import and export agricultural and sideline products, as well as bonded warehousing, among other things.

Part of a wider, grand venture – involving the construction of an agricultural services center, a cross-border frozen goods trading center, a YRD processing and distribution center, a cross-border bonded futures center, an intelligent cold chain warehousing center and a bulk commodity trading center -- the new cold chain logistics facility in Nantong will be at the center, servicing the entire Yangtze River Delta region.

Officials said that as a special customs supervision area, the Nantong FTZ actively plays a vanguard role in the city's export-oriented economy. With its geographical advantages at the heart of the Yangtze River Delta and innovative policies including streamlined customs clearances, it has won the favor of investors.

The new logistics center will cover 15.2 hectares and the first phase of the project is planned to break ground in 2021 and start operations in the current year. Once operating, the annual operating income will reach 20 billion yuan and the sales of imports and exports will top 2 billion yuan.

Senior local officials and company executives – including Zhang Jianhua, secretary of the Party working committee of the NETDA and Zhang Dengtao, chairman of China Co-op Cold Chain and Logistics Co -- attended the signing ceremony for the project.