The value of cross-border freight trains between China and Vietnam more than tripled in the first quarter, a stable ASEAN supply chain

A train carrying aluminum products departs from Gongxing Station of Chengdu-Kunming Railway and heads for Hanoi, Vietnam on April 18, 2022. This is the first dedicated train from Chengdu Airport to Hanoi. So far, Chengdu has operated 52 international trains, transporting more than 2,000 containers worth 320 million yuan ($50 million). Photo: cnsphoto

Official data showed that the value of goods on cross-border freight trains between China and Vietnam has more than tripled since the beginning of the year, highlighting the broader trade between the two countries and a stable supply chain for Southeast Asia that is boosted by the regional economic partnership.

Market watchers said the increased trade is benefiting from the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which has led to the growth potential of cross-border trains, and higher freight charges have pushed more companies to road transport.

The Pingxiang Railway Port in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region oversaw a total of 202,000 tons of cargo in the first quarter, up 95.8 percent over the same period last year; The total value was 6.32 billion yuan ($972 million), up 240.7 percent year on year. Among them, the growth of imported fruit has seen a jump, Nanning Customs data showed on Saturday.

Located on the Sino-Vietnamese border, Pingxiang is the largest wild fruit trading port in China, and the port is the only cross-border railway port in Guangxi.

Ma Siwei, general manager of Heze-based Shandong China Post International Logistics, told the Global Times on Saturday that the company has seen a jump in the number of freight trains to Vietnam in recent months.

In the past, one train or 50 TEUs could be formed and transported to Vietnam per month. But he said we now have three or four freight trains every month, especially after the Spring Festival holiday.

Various cities in China have been busy opening freight trains. On April 15, a freight train loaded with Dell-branded computer parts left Chengdu International Railway Port in southwest China’s Sichuan Province for Vietnam.

This is the first direct train from a city in western China to Vietnam, and it will take seven days for the train to arrive.

Since the beginning of the year, to meet the demand of manufacturers, international freight trains from Chengdu to Vietnam have shifted from combined rail transport to rail transport. The flight requires a change of course scale on the Sino-Vietnamese border.

Another freight train carrying 82 TEUs of cargo left Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, bound for Hanoi, Vietnam, in February.

The data showed that a total of 98 trains with 2,940 TEUs were launched between China and Vietnam in the first quarter of the year at Pingxiang Railway Port.

Ma attributed the growth to faster customs clearance, less transportation time, and government subsidies.

In the past, it would take several weeks for the goods to arrive by sea, but now, it will only take about two weeks to receive the goods, he said, not to mention the high freight charges, which are causing more companies to switch to shipping. trains.

He added that nearly half of exporters in neighboring cities choose trains, and the type of merchandise is more diversified including wood products and coffins in Kaoxian County, east China’s Shandong Province, bicycles from north China’s Hebei Province, and medical equipment from central China’s Henan Province. .

Official data showed that trade between China and Vietnam exceeded $230 billion last year, and China has been Vietnam’s largest trading partner for many years, and Vietnam remains China’s largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The newly opened China-Vietnam cross-border freight trains have injected new momentum into bilateral trade, and China is ready to work with Vietnam to further enhance the efficiency of multimodal rail transportation and ensure the supply chain, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday.

The China-Laos Railway is also a convenient logistics channel between China and ASEAN, and a number of provinces and cities in China have started cross-border freight trains, which Chinese customs data showed that trade by train between China and ASEAN increased three times – half times in the first quarter.

Observers attributed the rapid growth of trade between the two sides to the stable recovery of the regional industry chain. According to S&P Global, the manufacturing PMI for ASEAN members was 51.7 in March, maintaining the expansion trend, and driving China’s trade with ASEAN in intermediate products for growth.

Li Kuiwen, an official with the General Administration of Customs, said that with the RCEP agreement that took effect at the beginning of the year, the new profits strengthened the economic and trade relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Customs data showed that China’s trade with ASEAN totaled 1.35 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 8.4 percent year on year, as ASEAN returned as China’s largest trading partner after being overtaken by the European Union in the first two months of this year. .