A train loaded with auto parts and office equipment departed from Henggang Railway Station in Nanchang Wednesday morning, marking the launch of the service.
The train will pass through Pingxiang Pass in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and travel to Vietnam. The total length of the route is more than 1,700 kilometers. The journey will take around five days, 15 days less than the original route through sea. The cost is only half that of road transport.The train service will become regular next year.
A representative of the Yunnan Provincial Industry and Information Technology Commission said the cargo train would contribute to stepping up trade ties between Yunnan and other Vietnamese provinces, and carrying out the “One Belt, One Road” initiative.
In Haiphong, the Vietnam Railway Corporation also inaugurated a cargo train bound for Kunming. It takes the train an estimated 30 hours to ship sulfur to China and fertilizer to Vietnam along the 670-kilometer Kunming-Haiphong route.
Earlier, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport and the China Railway Corporation agreed on numerous issues in rail transport between the two countries to reduce costs and create favorable conditions for transnational transportation by rail.