A new foreign trade route between China and Guyana was officially opened earlier this week with the arrival of an ore carrier laden with 110,000 tonnes of bauxite at the Port of Jiangyin in Jiangsu province.
The ore carrier Lady Dawn then unloaded the bauxite, which is to be used for the local production of aluminium.
Among other things, the new Jiangyin-Guyana trade route provides China with an alternative source of bauxite after its main trading partners Australia and Guinea.
Guyana has one of the world's largest bauxite reserves, with production reaching 250,000 tonnes in 2024.
The Port of Jiangyin will also be the future site of a new aluminium plant to be established by the Bosai Mining Group. Some of the aluminium to be manufactured here will come from Guyana, which was one of the first countries in the Caribbean to join the Belt and Road Initiative in 2018.
Prior to the opening of the Jiangyin-Guyana trade route, the Port of Jiangyin initiated a program of upgrades and improvements that included dredging of the approach channel to a depth of 12.3 metres and expansion of some of the existing jetties.