China-Singapore rail-sea transit route connects more cities

A freight train loaded with chemical products departed Friday from southwest China's Chongqing municipality for a port in southern China, where the goods will be further shipped across the sea to foreign countries.

A freight train loaded with chemical products departs from Fuling West Station in southwest China's Chongqing municipality for a port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi provine, March 6, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

The new route starting from the logistics hub of Fuling in Chongqing is an expansion of the China-Singapore rail-sea transit route, which was launched in 2017 and has connected 220 ports in 92 countries and regions.

Thanks to the route, the 50 standard containers of goods carried by the train will arrive in Italy, Turkey and the Netherlands about 14 days faster than the traditional water route.

In another development, northwest China's Qinghai province saw its first cargo train carrying tonnes of goods leave Thursday the station of Yinmaxia for a port in south China, where the goods will be shipped to Bangkok, capital of Thailand, via the transit route.

The goods will arrive at the Sahathai port in Bangkok in about 18 days.

Since the novel coronavirus epidemic, Chongqing and Qinghai have introduced measures to reduce logistics costs for trade enterprises and ensure the normal operation of the rail-sea transit route.

By the end of February, about 1,674 freight trains have shipped on the route over 300 kinds of commodities worth US$910 million.