Meter-gauge railway helps boost cargo transportation between China and Vietnam

At 1:36 A.M. on December 18, the X9121 train loaded with 496 tons of chemical fertilizers pulled out of the Shilicun Station, southeast Yunnan’s Kaiyuan City. The train will run southward to its final station in Hai Phong City, Vietnam. It is the 1,000th cargo train running on the Yunnan-Vietnam Meter-Gauge Railway after the operation was launched one year ago.

To help Yunnan and other Chinese provinces along the Yangtze River Economic Belt increase cooperation with the South and Southeast Asia, the China Railway Kunming Group gave full play to its advantages and held negotiations with Vietnamese railway administration and export enterprises on the launch of the cargo trains. In December of last year, the first cargo train began to run on the Yunnan-Vietnam Meter-Gauge Railway.

After the operation, the cargo trains have served as an international transport passage between China and South and Southeast Asian countries. It features low carbon, large capacity and all weather. Various cargos have been transported between China and South and Southeast Asian countries, including chemical fertilizers, fish meal, yellow phosphorus and iron ores. Up to December 18, 1,000 trains had been dispatched, transporting 406,400 tons of cargos in total and benefiting many Chinese and foreign companies. 

(Text and photo by Hu Xiaorong)