On February 24, the first working day after the Spring Festival holiday, a Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal freight train, fully loaded with high-end fire trucks manufactured by the SANY Group, started off from the Zhuzhou Land Port for China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation.  

This shipment marked a new breakthrough in the export of Hunan-made construction machinery through this channel, injecting new momentum into Hunan's high-quality development of foreign trade in 2026 with a good start. 

This was the inaugural shipment of SANY's fire trucks through the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal freight service, and also the largest delivery of machinery exports via this channel since it began operation. About 2,000 containers were scheduled for this shipment, being transported to Zhuzhou in phases. The first batch of fire trucks will be transported by the freight train to the port in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, where the goods will be seamlessly transferred to Jakarta of Indonesia by an oceangoing freighter, to contribute to the development of the local emergency rescue system. 

As China's first specialized logistics channel for trade with Africa, the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal freight service has established a logistics network with Zhuzhou as its primary assembly hub and Hengyang and Chenzhou as secondary hubs. It has become a vital gateway connecting Hunan, even the central and western regions of China, to the global market. The successful inauguration of this specialized shipment signifies a leap in the channel's cargo structure, shifting from traditional auto parts, ceramics, and agricultural products to high-value-added engineering machinery. Moreover, it fully demonstrates the channel's robust capabilities in transporting large-scale complete sets of equipment.

In recent years, the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal freight service has been continuously expanded and upgraded. It has launched the "Hunan-Guangdong Maritime Silk" express service with a fixed weekly schedule. Its coverage has extended to over 80 countries and 170 ports globally. Following the upgrade, the transportation time from Zhuzhou to Nansha Port has been reduced from 72 hours to under 20 hours, while comprehensive logistics costs shrinking by nearly 20%. Hunan's manufacturing enterprises will accelerate their paces in expanding business into international markets through this channel.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunantoday