Freight train services enhance regional trade

HANOI — The Dong Anh railway station in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi remains busy in the early hours as container handling vehicles are moving back and forth, loading containers onto a timber express bound for Nanning, the capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The timber was purchased by a Chinese papermaking company as raw material from southern Vietnam. Speaking of the China-Vietnam freight train service, Zhang Cunwei, head of VTO International Port Development Joint Stock Company, said a single train like the timber express might have 10 or 20 containers, all carrying the same type of product.

"We often launch trains reserved for transporting agricultural products, fruits or others," Zhang said.

The China-Vietnam freight train service began in 2017, and has expanded from transporting basic goods to more than 300 types of goods, said Nguyen Hoang Anh, deputy general manager of Railway Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company of Vietnam Railways.

Vietnam exports mainly agricultural products, fruits, electronics, textiles and footwear, while China sends raw materials, steel and construction materials for manufacturing to Vietnam, he said.

He added that Vietnamese goods are delivered through the freight train service to more than 20 provinces and cities in China, and Central Asia and Europe by connecting with the China-Europe freight train.

"Meanwhile, Chinese goods are not only transported to Vietnam but also pass through Vietnam to reach Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and other ASEAN countries," he said.

With the promotion and support by both countries' railway authorities, more and more companies on both sides have ordered the freight train service for shortened transport time, simplified procedures, and reduced costs, he said.

"With stable capacity, pricing and timing, the market appeal of this service has increased. Now the service is covering China's southwestern market and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," said Peng Weijun, deputy director of the freight logistics service center of the Nanning Railway Administration.

According to data from the Nanning Railway Administration, as of Sept 30, the China-Vietnam freight trains departing from Guangxi had shipped a record 10,380 containers this year.

Xinhua