The following article is sourced from People's Railway, authored by People's Railway

The spring tide is surging, stirring up countless new atmospheres.

At the beginning of the spring of 2023, the China Europe regular train will be full of power, the new land sea channel in the west will be full of vitality, and the China Laos railway will be both passenger and cargo prosperous... The railway will inject strong momentum into the smooth domestic and international double circulation and help the global economic recovery.

  The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to promote the high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road".

From the "freehand brushwork" of planning layout to the "meticulous painting", the construction of the "the Belt and Road" has achieved fruitful results.  

China Europe freight train

Steel camel caravans build a mutually beneficial golden bridge

The sound of bagpipes resounds throughout the Eurasian continent.

On January 12th, Zhengzhou Putian Station welcomed a China Europe freight train carrying goods such as French red wine, German chocolate, and pasta. These "foreign New Year goods" were gradually sold to Jiangsu, Shandong, Shaanxi, Hubei and other places; On January 13th, the China Europe freight train, loaded with 1300 tons of Kazakhstani flour, arrived in Xi'an and supplied the national holiday grain and oil market through Xi'an... On the eve of the Spring Festival, the New Year's goods market was bustling, and the wheels of the China Europe freight train rolled, allowing the Chinese people to taste more world delicacies.

Data reflects full vitality——

Throughout 2022, the China Europe freight train operated 16000 trains and sent 1.6 million TEUs of goods. In the first month of 2023, the China Europe freight train achieved a successful start. This year's Spring Festival travel is the first time the epidemic prevention and control has entered a new stage, and the China Europe freight train has delivered impressive results.

Actions demonstrate mission and responsibility——

In 2022, facing the severe epidemic situation, the China Europe freight train will grow against the trend and maintain normal, safe and stable operation. China Railway Group fully leverages the strategic role of the China Europe freight train, focusing on building an all-weather, high-capacity, green, low-carbon, and smooth and safe international logistics channel. From strengthening international railway cooperation to exploring new transportation channels and paths, from expanding international full logistics business to promoting balanced transportation of two-way cargo sources, from improving transportation service quality to accelerating infrastructure construction and implementing port expansion and transformation... These strong measures provide strong guarantees for maintaining the stability and smoothness of the international industrial chain and supply chain.

Mutual benefit and win-win situation, benefiting people around the world.

A series of container freight trains carrying Jingdezhen ceramics, tea and other products depart from Jingdezhen East Station in Jiangxi, heading to Moscow, Russia, and toy trains depart from Yiwu to Prague, Czech Republic... With the strong promotion of China Railway Group, the overseas channel network pattern of "smooth, efficient, multi-directional extension, and sea land interconnection" is accelerating, and more and more "Made in China" are taking the China Europe freight train to the world. The goods shipped by the China Europe freight train are becoming increasingly diverse, covering over 50000 categories across 53 major categories, including clothing, shoes and hats, automobiles and accessories, grains, and wood.

At present, the China Europe freight train has laid out 82 operating routes, reaching 208 cities in 25 European countries, gradually connecting points into a line and weaving into a network, covering the entire European transportation service network.

By optimizing the regional opening-up pattern, expanding economic and trade exchanges between China and Europe, deepening international production capacity cooperation, and accelerating cross-border flow of factor resources, China Europe freight trains are accelerating their journey towards high-quality development.

Western Land Sea New Corridor

Xianghai Tuqiang is full of vitality

Land ports are bustling with activity; The harbor dock is bustling with vehicles and ships.

On January 22nd, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the first western land sea new channel sea rail intermodal train departed from the central station of Tuanjie Village in Chongqing during the New Year of the Rabbit.

On February 12th, a 10000 ton giant ship shuttled back and forth at Beibu Gulf Port in Guangxi, and trains on the dedicated railway line entering the port rumbled.

Since the start of 2023, the sea rail intermodal trains of the Western Land Sea New Corridor have maintained a good development momentum, transporting nearly 60000 TEUs of goods in the first month, and sending 74100 TEUs of goods during the Spring Festival travel period, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%.

The 14th Five Year Plan and the 2035 Vision Outline clearly state that the Western Land Sea New Corridor is a major project aimed at serving the national major strategy. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly proposes to accelerate the construction of the Western Land Sea New Corridor.

Based on serving the major national strategy, China Railway Group continuously optimizes and improves its regional road network layout, coordinates the implementation of strategic backbone channel projects such as the Western Land Sea New Channel, innovates international intermodal transportation models, and contributes actively to promoting the high-quality development of the Western Land Sea New Channel and serving the construction of a new development pattern.

Logistics routes continue to expand. At present, the new land sea channel in the west has basically formed three main roads in the east, middle and west. The logistics network has covered 393 ports in 119 countries and regions, and the types of goods have expanded to more than 940. It has realized the "two wings flying together" with China Europe trains, forming a complete loop line of the "the Belt and Road" through western China.

The development of sea rail intermodal transportation is accelerating. The railway vigorously develops container transportation, improves the loading and unloading efficiency of container handling stations, continuously upgrades and improves ports and logistics facilities, accelerates the construction of logistics hub projects, strives to create an industrial cluster that integrates transportation, logistics, and commerce, and accelerates the formation of a modern railway logistics port cluster.

Transportation security continues to strengthen. Railway strengthens cooperation among all parties, coordinates resources from all parties, carries out collaborative services, tailors logistics solutions for customers through "one enterprise, one policy", encrypts the operation of sea rail intermodal trains, continuously expands the radiation range of trains, and improves the quality of train operation.

Now, Xinjiang Hami melon, Ningxia medlar pulp, Guangxi Luosifen... the "land and sea high-quality products" jointly created by provinces, regions and cities along the channel are constantly moving towards the international market. Thai durian, Vietnamese salmon, high-quality crushed white rice from Pakistan... Rich products from Southeast Asia and even around the world are entering the homes of ordinary Chinese people through the western land sea new channel.

From the western border to the forefront of opening up, sea rail intermodal trains are speeding all the way, and the western land sea new channel is fully unleashing the vitality of "going to the sea" and stimulating strong momentum for regional development.

China Laos Railway

The golden route benefits the people of both countries

On December 3, 2022, the first anniversary of the opening and operation of the China Laos Railway, a perfect answer was handed over: 8.5 million passengers and 11.2 million tons of goods were sent in total.

This golden route not only brings great benefits to the two peoples, but also provides a model for the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" and the promotion of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Both quantity and quality increase, and both customers and goods thrive——

The operation of the Fuxing and Lancang high-speed trains is safe, green, fast, and comfortable, and is favored by the people of both countries. Looking at the domestic segment, we will implement multilingual services and a new type of ticketing system for counted and scheduled tickets. We will launch air rail intermodal transportation products at 11 stations to continuously improve the travel experience of passengers. Looking at the Laos section, passenger stations such as Gaxi, Meng'a, and Namo have been gradually opened, achieving the co operation of high-speed trains and conventional trains. Ticket sales points have been opened in major cities in Laos to extend the pre-sale time.

Since its opening, the monthly freight volume and cross-border freight volume of the China Laos Railway have reached new highs. China Railway Group has innovated the international transportation mode of "China Laos Railway+China Europe Train" and "China Laos Railway+New Land Sea Channel Train in Western China", launched the China Laos "Lancang Mekong Express" international freight trains with fixed points, fixed time, fixed routes and fixed train times, actively promoted the mode of rapid customs clearance and customs transfer, and significantly reduced the time for cross-border cargo customs clearance.

Safe and stable transportation management——

China and Laos have worked together to strengthen infrastructure inspections, repairs, and maintenance, ensuring the continuous good quality and condition of equipment and facilities, and ensuring the safety and smooth flow of international transportation channels. In response to the fact that the railway passes through more than 10 areas where Asian elephant family groups are active, the railway department has taken measures such as setting up patrol posts, fences, and prevention and early warning systems to minimize interference with wild elephant activities, contributing railway strength to achieving harmonious coexistence between humans and nature and strengthening ecological environment protection along the line.

The big channel brings big logistics, big logistics drives big trade, and big trade activates big industries.

Nowadays, from Vientiane, Laos to the important tourist city of Luang Prabang in the north, 85% of tourists choose to travel by train, and the tourism economy along the route is developing rapidly. The flow of people, logistics, capital, and information is accelerating, and various industries are expanding and upgrading. The cross-border goods of the China Laos Railway cover Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and other countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road". The category of goods has expanded from more than 10 kinds of fertilizers and general merchandise at the initial stage of opening to more than 1200 kinds of electronics, photovoltaic, cold chain fruits, and economic and trade exchanges have been deepening. In 2022, the Vientiane South Station Reload Yard will be completed and put into operation, the China Laos Thailand Railway will be interconnected, and the radiation and driving role of the China Laos Railway will be further expanded.

The steel dragon gallops freely, crossing mountains and seas to build a smooth path. Looking thousands of miles away, a large number of railway construction projects have landed overseas. In November last year, the Yawan high-speed railway project, which was the first high-speed railway project in China to have a full system, all elements, and all industry chains landed overseas, successfully completed its trial operation, and the "Thousand Island Country" launched China's high-speed trains. The Belgrade to Novi Sad section of the Hungarian Serbian Railway has been successfully opened for operation, achieving the first integration of Chinese railway technology and equipment with the European Union's railway interconnection technical specifications... The pace of China's high-speed rail "going out" is becoming more and more vigorous.

The great road leads far, and the sea embraces all rivers. On the new journey of high-quality co building the "the Belt and Road" and promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, China's railway will play a more vigorous symphony of the times.