The 1st Sino-Laos railway freight train from Jiangmen departed on March 16. The train fully loaded with electronic products, daily necessities, and light industrial goods pulled out from Jiangmen North Railway Station at 12:30 pm.
[Photo: Nanfang Plus]
It is expected to arrive at Vientiane, capital of Laos in seven days after passing through Kunming and completing exit formalities at Mohan Port in Yunnan Province. The whole journey is about 2,400 km.
The products will be distributed to ASEAN countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
“The Sino-Laos freight train ‘Jiangmen’ will establish an international logistics channel between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and southwestern China to meet the market demands of ASEAN countries,” said Pan Zhiyuan, manager of Jiangmen Zhuxi Logistics Development, Co., Ltd.
The charges of the freight train are about 8,000 yuan per 40GP container excluding the trailer and customs clearance fees. It will run on a monthly basis with 35, 40GP containers in every carriage.
According to Pan, the cargo will only need one run of declaration, inspection, and discharge at the Jiangmen North Railway Station. This can reduce the company costs as well as improve customs clearance efficiency.
[Photo: Nanfang Plus]
This Sino-Laos freight train will not only promote the cooperation between Jiangmen and Laos SMEs as well as countries and regions along the route of the Belt and Road initiative, but also support industrial upgrading in the whole Greater Bay Area.
Last December, Jiangmen suggested to accelerate the building of Zhuxi international logistics center, as well as to launch China-Europe freight trains and railways for southeast Asia.
As one of the key cities for foreign economic and trade development in the province, Jiangmen has geographical advantages, policy support mechanisms and resource factors in promoting high-level opening up and in-depth industrial cooperation with RCEP countries.
In 2021, Jiangmen's imports and exports to RCEP trading partners reached 37.2 billion RMB, up by 16.8%, accounting for 20.78% of the total import and export value.
Author | Fanny
Editor | Wing, Steven, Monica, Jerry
