China-Laos Railway cross-border freight volume tops 20 million metric tons

(ECNS) -- The China-Laos Railway had carried more than 20 million metric tons of cross-border freight across over 23,000 freight train trips as of Wednesday, CCTV News reported. 

Cross-border freight has climbed steadily since the railway opened on Dec. 3, 2021. Cumulative volume passed 1 million metric tons in its first year, reached 5 million metric tons in 2023 and 10 million metric tons in 2024.

So far this year, daily cross-border freight has averaged 17,000 metric tons, maintaining steady year-on-year growth.

The range of goods crossing the border has widened from just over 10 categories when the line opened to more than 3,800 today, and its freight network now reaches 19 countries and regions across South and Southeast Asia.

As international services such as the Lancang-Mekong Express have matured, Southeast Asian farm produce, including durians, mangosteens and longans, can now travel from Vientiane to Kunming in 26 hours and on to major Chinese cities within two days.

The railway has cut overland transport costs between Vientiane and Kunming by 40 to 50 percent and spurred industrial parks and logistics hubs along its route.

In the first half of this year, imports and exports handled via the railway were worth 17.16 billion yuan (about $2.52 billion), up 33.7 percent year on year, making the line a new engine of foreign trade growth.

(By intern Wu Jingjing)