Guiyang opens first direct China-Central Asia freight train

Guizhou's first direct China-Central Asia freight train departs from Guiyang International Land Port on July 28. [Photo/Guiyang news network]

An international freight train carrying over 1,500 metric tons of mattresses, baby products, and tiles departed from Guiyang International Land Port on July 28, marking the launch of the first direct China-Central Asia freight train service from Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The train service employs an international "road-rail-road" transportation model using containers. After customs clearance at the Guiyang Free Trade Zone, the train departed from Guiyang International Land Port and will travel through Khorgos Port in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on its way to Almaty, Kazakhstan. The one-way transit time is approximately 11 days.

On its return journey, the train will transport 1,300 tons of agricultural products from Kazakhstan back to Guiyang.

The freight train marks the first time that Central Asia and Guizhou have realized multimodal two-way transportation.

The train is expected to help Guizhou-made products go global with relatively low logistics costs and further open up Guizhou's economy.