Freight links with Russia expanded further

Four trucks each carrying 12 to 15 metric tons of fruits and two cross-border buses carrying dozens of passengers started their journey from Northeast China's Dalian, Liaoning province, on Friday toward Russia's Novosibirsk, marking the official launch of TIR, the global customs transit system, in China.

"The Dalian-Novosibirsk route is currently China's longest international road transport route, connecting 19 cities of both countries," said Liu Xiaoming, vice-minister of the Ministry of Transport.

It is the first international road transport route that has commenced trial operations after China joined the TIR Convention in 2016, an international system that significantly reduces the time and cost of crossing borders.