A China-Laos freight train, fully loaded with goods of daily use, pulled out of the Huaihua Western Railway Logistics Park towards Vientiane of Laos on the morning of March 2.

Hunan has handled 1,200 China-Laos freight train trips so far this year, marking a year-on-year increase of nearly 13%. This "steel silk road" linking China and Laos has become a crucial economic and trade bond between the two countries.

"The tropical fruits from Southeast Asia, such as durians, mangosteens, dragon fruits, and bananas, are popular domestically, while our vegetables and other agricultural and sideline products are favored by the Southeast Asian consumers. The China-Laos cold-chain freight train service has enabled convenient and high-efficiency connectivity between the two countries, satisfying the market demands of both sides," said a manager of the Changsha Railway Logistics Center Huaihua Division.

In 2024, Hunan operated more than 8,700 China-Laos freight train trips, increasing by three times over the previous year and ranking first in central China. To sustain the accelerated pace of foreign trade via the China-Laos freight train service, Hunan railway authorities, in collaboration with Huaihua International Land Port, are actively engaging with local enterprises to promote the road-to-rail service specifically for local specialty goods. To further expand cargo distribution capacity and strengthen the railway logistics, Hunan railway authorities have collaborated with local governments to upgrade the railway station facilities, and launched Changsha-Huaihua tailor-customized freight trains. Meanwhile, they have been exploring a "China-Laos Railway + New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor" international intermodal transport model of freight train service, to meet logistics demands of the cities in and neighboring Hunan Province.

In order to elevate the transport efficiency of the China-Laos freight trains, Hunan railway authorities have enhanced coordinated operations in cargo entry, loading and unloading, and dispatching processes. They have optimized operation procedures, established green channels, and implemented pre-screening security checks to achieve seamless integration of cargo acceptance, inspection, and transfer, ensuring enhancement of transport capacity and guarantee of timely deliveries.

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

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn