The Guangdong-Yunnan Lancang-Mekong Railway Express started operating recently, opening up a new international freight route that connects south and southwest China with Southeast Asia.
The new route follows the successful launches in recent years of the Shanghai-Kunming Lancang-Mekong Express, the Hunan-Yunnan Lancang-Mekong Express, the Sichuan-Yunnan Lancang-Mekong Express and the Yunnan-Guizhou Lancang-Mekong Express.
The construction of railway networks linking Southeast Asian countries with China is progressing steadily.
The high-speed railway from Vientiane in Laos to Kunming, freight routes from Rayong in Thailand to Chengdu, and from Bangkok to Chongqing are all bolstering connectivity between China and Southeast Asia. As one of the key projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Laos Railway will continue to extend further into neighboring countries, establishing broad and direct connections across more regions.
In June this year, the China-Laos-Thailand-Malaysia cross-border railway express began operation. In July, the Thailand-Laos cross-border passenger train also began service, seamlessly integrating with international passenger trains on the China-Laos Railway.
Statistics reveal that, in the first half of this year, the China-Laos Railway transported a total of 9.9 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 15.9 percent. Freight transport has similarly expanded, with 9,181 freight trains operating on the line, transporting a total of 10.05 million tons of goods.
By the end of June, the passenger and freight service network of the China-Laos Railway had expanded to encompass 12 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as 31 major provinces, cities and districts within China. This expansion has effectively enhanced economic and trade exchanges between China and countries in the Indochinese Peninsula. In addition, in the first half of this year, the volume of combined sea-rail transportation along the new land-sea corridor in western China increased by 20.8 percent, promoting deeper integration across various industrial chains.
In recent years, economic and trade exchanges between China and Southeast Asia have intensified.
According to the 2024 China-ASEAN Economic and Trade Cooperation Survey Report, released by the RCEP Industry Cooperation Committee, the development of economic links serves as a crucial driver for fostering the China-ASEAN Community of Common Destiny.
Statistics indicate that bilateral trade between China and ASEAN countries reached 6.41 trillion yuan ($894 billion) in 2023. In the first half of 2024, the total trade value between China and ASEAN reached 3.36 trillion yuan ($468 billion), an increase of 10.5 percent, accounting for 15.9 percent of China's total foreign trade value. As important trading partners, China and ASEAN leverage complementary advantages to stimulate economic growth through enhanced economic and trade exchanges.
An increasingly interconnected international freight train network is injecting vitality into economic growth between China and Southeast Asia.
According to a report by Thailand's Kasikorn Research Center, in transshipment trade with neighboring and third countries, Thailand's exports to China are expected to reach 250 billion baht (50 billion yuan) in 2024, reflecting a 17 percent increase from the previous year.
The report further suggests that "logistics routes via the China-Laos Railway will play a greater role in cross-border and transshipment trade".
(Executive editor: Zhu Zeya)
