Over 100,000 tonnes of fruits transported on China-Laos Railway so far in 2024

More than 100,000 tonnes of fruits have been transported so far this year on the China-Laos Railway, an increase of around 120 percent year on year, local railway authorities have said.

On July 11, the last day when this round of data was compiled, a batch of 108 tonnes of durians from Thailand, transported via the China-Laos Railway, was unloaded at Kunming Hongyun international logistics port, surpassing the 100,000-tonne mark. It took only 29 hours for the fruit delivery to reach the unloading area in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, from the Vientiane South Station, according to the China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

Thanks to streamlined customs clearance measures, tropical fruits, vegetables and flowers from South Asia and Southeast Asia are continuously transported to China via this railway. The railway's cross-border customs clearance time has been reduced to no more than five hours, said the company.

The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), began operations in December 2021. The 1,035-kilometer railway connects Kunming in China with Vientiane in Laos.