New Laos–China Rail Line Transports Fruit Within a Day

A new railway line has opened between Laos and China, with the inaugural cross-border train setting out on Dec. 3 from Kunming in China’s Yunnan province. The following day, the first train of a dedicated international China–Laos cold-chain cargo service also departed Kunming, passing through the cities of Yuxi, Pu’er and Jinghong before crossing into Laos at the Mohan–Boten land border port. The train arrived at Vientiane South train station the next day, thus marking the official opening of the dedicated cold-chain rail service between the Laotian capital and the Tengjun International Land Port in Kunming.

The inaugural cold-storage train set out from Kunming carrying 33 refrigerated containers loaded with local specialty vegetables from Kunming. On the return journey, the train carried tropical fruit from Thailand and Laos, which was transported onward to cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou after arriving in Kunming.

The Tengjun International Land Port is equipped with various facilities to provide distribution and transport services for a range of goods and trade formats, including a multifunctional highway–railway transport center, a bonded logistics center (type B), a large-scale room-temperature smart warehouse zone and a cold-storage warehouse zone. In addition, the port has also established a website in Laos and Thailand providing comprehensive import–export services on both sides of the border, including goods collection, storage, cross-border logistics, customs declaration and clearance, rail transportation and end-point delivery of goods.

For the initial period after the opening of the new China–Laos rail service, cargo on the route can be handled at the stations at Yanhe, Yuanjiang, Ning’er, Yexianggu, Mengla and Mohan on the Chinese side of the border. On the Laotian side, stations include Natuey, Luang Prabang and Vientiane South.

The opening of the new rail line has reduced the transport time for cargo from Vientiane to the China–Laos border from two days to just three hours, meaning that goods can leave Vientiane in the morning and arrive in Kunming the same day. In terms of Thai-grown fruit, exporters using the new Laos–China rail line to transport fruit from Thailand’s Laem Chabang to Kunming can save an average of 30–50% on freight costs per ton of goods when compared to road transport, as well as substantially reducing transport times.

Image: Xinhua News Agency

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.