The summer transport is coming to an end, and the international freight of the China Laos Railway is still busy. The starting station of China Laos Railway International Freight Train in the suburb of Kunming – China Railway Union Kunming Central Station is in full swing: more than ten front cranes shuttle back and forth, loading and unloading cold chain containers loaded with durian.
Not far from the Kunming Central Station of China Railway Lianji, it is the Yunnan Hongyun International Logistics Port, covering an area of 242 acres. By the end of 2023, China Railway Lianji Kunming Central Station will build a railway logistics’ station outside the station ‘at Hongyun International Logistics Port, realizing the functional combination of’ railway station+comprehensive park ‘. Li Rongping, Chairman of Yunnan Hongyun International Logistics Port, said that the’ station outside the station ‘provides customers with’ one-stop ‘services such as warehousing, distribution, packaging, etc.
During the peak season of durian sales, efficient transfer scenes are played out every day on the container loading and unloading platform of Yunnan Hongyun International Logistics Port: workers remove boxed durians from white cold chain containers and put them into large truck carriages. In less than 40 minutes, about 18 tons of durians are transferred from railway containers to large trucks, and then transported to surrounding fruit markets for sale.
“Through the China Laos Railway ‘Lancang Mekong Express’, goods can be delivered to Kunming within 26 hours from Vientiane, Laos at the earliest.” Ou Daoqing, head of the marketing department of China Railway Union Kunming Central Station, said that thanks to the China Laos Railway, a large number of durian produced in Southeast Asian countries can be sent to China stably and quickly, from fresh branches to Chinese consumers’ dining tables, preserving the fresh taste of durian to the greatest extent.
On December 3, 2021, the China Laos Railway will be officially put into operation, and a convenient logistics channel will be built between China and ASEAN. The transportation service will continue to upgrade. “At the beginning of 2022, China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd. will run the” Lancang Mekong Express Line “international freight train of the China Laos Railway at fixed points, at fixed times, on fixed routes and with fixed train times. The train has the characteristics of controllable arrival time, customs clearance and fast running speed,” said Tian Haowen, deputy director of the second marketing office of the freight department of China Railway Kunming Bureau.
“Before the train, Southeast Asian durian can only enter China by road or sea. Road transportation is greatly affected by terrain and weather. It takes at least 4 days to get to Kunming from Vientiane alone, and even half a month in extreme weather. Bumping along the way is likely to lead to skin damage and pulp deterioration of durian. Although sea transportation can carry a large number of goods, it often takes more than one week to make a one-way trip, which makes it difficult to accurately control the maturity of durian, and may lead to a taste decline.” Wang Hao, general manager of Sichuan Langhao Import and Export Group Co., Ltd., said that the China Laos Railway has significantly reduced the damage rate and transportation costs of imported durian, and the company’s trade volume of durian in 2025 is expected to increase by 20% compared with that in 2024.
According to the statistics of China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd., as of August 26 this year, more than 150000 tons of Durian were imported through the international freight transport of China Laos Railway, up 91% year on year.
In addition to the efficient transportation of railway trunk lines, the improvement of supporting logistics facilities has also injected more vitality into the durian supply chain.
At present, there are 5 special lines for the combined transportation of China Laos trains from Durian to Sichuan. After Durian arrives in Sichuan through the China Laos railway, it can be quickly transferred to all parts of the country. Not long ago, the imported durian cold chain special train from Vientiane, Laos to Chengdu, Sichuan arrived at the Chengdu International Railway Port Cold Chain Logistics Base. Nearly 300 tons of durian, imported through cooperation between Sichuan Port Investment New Channel Logistics Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd. and Sichuan Langhao Import and Export Group Co., Ltd., were quickly transported to fruit wholesale markets in Beijing, Xi’an, Lhasa, Guangzhou and other places for sale through a cold chain dedicated fleet after completing container replacement and transfer operations.
“In the future, we plan to rely on the hub advantages of the China Laos Railway and the Chengdu International Railway Port to expand the import category to tropical fruits that are also popular with domestic consumers, such as mangosteen and longan, and have high requirements on transportation timeliness, so as to bring more high-quality and affordable Southeast Asian products to domestic consumers,” said Wang Hao.