Train from Thailand returns with freight on maiden round-trip voyage

An international cold freight train carrying 414 tons of durians from Thailand returned to a freight railway station in Zengcheng district of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, on Monday according to China Railway Guangzhou Group.

It was the first return leg of the China-Laos-Thailand round-trip train, which departed from Thailand and passed through the China-Laos Railway. This journey marked the opening of the two-way railway transportation channel for trade between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The China-Laos-Thailand round-trip train was launched in early February and has added new momentum for trade between China and ASEAN member states.

After the freight station in Zengcheng opened one-way international freight transportation between the Greater Bay Area and Laos last December, railway and freight operators have been looking for goods to be loaded on the return trips.

"We have connected with large foreign enterprises and multinational corporations and established multi-party trade cooperation between China, Laos and Thailand," said Chen Chuncheng, a manager of the multimodal transport business department of China Railway Express (Guangzhou).

Customs supervision and international trade settlement were required to be completed in Vientiane, Laos, during the return trip, as it spans three countries.