China-Laos Railway witnesses 1808 freight train trips from China

Aerial photo taken on May 21, 2022 shows a China-Laos cargo train departing from a station in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

As of August 27, over 20 provincial regions in China have launched a total of 1,808 international freight train trips on China-Laos Railway, with a freight volume of 1.185 million tonnes and a total freight value of nearly 10 billion yuan, reported Chinanews.com.

Specifically, Yunnan has shipped a total of 1,442 international freight trains, accounting for 80 percent of the total, with a freight volume of 1.033 million tons, accounting for 87 percent nationwide.

The China-Laos Railway connects Kunming of Yunnan and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, with a total length of more than 1,000 kilometers. Among them, the Chinese section is 508 kilometers, all of which are in Yunnan.

Since put into operation on December 3, 2021, featuring with strong carrying capacity, high safety and low transportation costs, international freight on China-Laos Railway has developed rapidly.

In order to further improve the customs clearance facilitation level, Kunming and Mohan ports have newly established 6 Belt and Road special channels, and newly added 4 railway ports for fruit transit from Thailand, said an official of Department of Commerce of Yunnan Province.

Currently, the China-Laos Railway has covered 30 provincial regions in China. The categories of goods have expanded from chemical fertilizers, rubber to nearly 2,000 types of goods such as electronics, photovoltaics. The railway connects 8 countries including Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, with running frequency of China-Laos international freight trains achieving an average of about 6 trains per day.