HANOI: A freight train carrying 46 containers traveled from North China’s Hebei province to Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, last week, the latest route linking China and an Association of Southeast Asian Nations economy.
The train, laden with products worth some 5 million yuan ($693,300), departed Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, on July 24 and arrived in Hanoi on Aug 2. It is the first freight train connecting Hebei and Hanoi.
Carrying metal equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, the train exited China via the Pingxiang land port in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in the south of the country.
“It takes at least 15 days for goods to travel from China by sea to Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam. The new railway route greatly reduces travel time and will provide strong support for foreign trade enterprises to further explore the ASEAN market,” said Li Jiangna, a manager at the Shijiazhuang International Land Port.
“Grabbing the opportunities of the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative and implementation of the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), we will operate more freight train services between Hebei and Vietnam,” said Liu Ruiling, president of Hebei Land Port Group. “We also plan to set up overseas warehouses in Vietnam.” –The Daily Mail-China Dailynews exchange item
