People’s Daily Online, Beijing, September 1st (Reporter Qiao Xuefeng) At 9:15 AM on August 31st, the 79368 sea-rail combined transport train, fully loaded with 33 cars carrying 1850 tons of chemical fertilizer, departed from Liugang Freight Yard in Xiangyang City. It is expected to arrive at Xiamen Port in 2 days, where the goods will be loaded onto ships bound for Vietnam and other ASEAN countries. This marks the inaugural run of the “Xiangyang–Xiamen Port–Southeast Asia” sea-rail combined transport train, opening up a new international logistics channel for Xiangyang, Hubei Province.
With the advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative, Xiangyang City in central China’s Hubei Province, a key manufacturing base in the country, is vigorously developing sea-rail combined transport to enable more “Made in Xiangyang” products to reach the global market, pushing the inland city to the forefront of opening-up. Xiangyang City has closely cooperated with railway authorities and, on the basis of stable operations of the Xiangyang–Ningbo and Xiangyang–Nansha sea-rail combined transport routes, has actively launched the “Xiangyang–Xiamen Port–Southeast Asia” sea-rail combined transport train.
An official from China Railway Wuhan Bureau stated that the “Xiangyang–Xiamen Port–Southeast Asia” sea-rail combined transport train adopts a seamless “door-to-door” model using a “one-container” system. It streamlines processes in documentation handover, short-distance transport, and cargo transloading. The goods travel directly from Xiangyang to the Qianchang Station in Xiamen, and the train’s cargo is then loaded onto ships at Xiamen Port for export to Vietnam.
The official added that China Railway Wuhan Bureau proactively addresses customer needs, customizing “one enterprise, one policy” transport plans based on cargo value and shipping schedules. It prioritizes allocating empty containers, loading, and dispatching trains, meticulously arranges loading and unloading plans, and efficiently ensures the operation of the trains. This reduces the need for enterprises to negotiate with shipping and road transport links, handle documentation, arrange short-distance transport, and manage cargo transloading. For container inspections, it strictly adheres to international shipping standards, reduces the turnover time for export goods, and ensures efficient coordination in plan acceptance, cargo inspection, and loading organization. The transport time has been compressed from the previous 6 days to just 2 days to reach the port, reducing the time required by two-thirds.
Zhou Junjian, Manager of the Xiangyang Business Department of Wuhan Railway Logistics Center, stated that this cooperation between the railway and the enterprise is a positive attempt to expand new transport channels, accelerate the adjustment of the transport structure, and reduce overall social logistics costs. “In the next step, we will continue to explore and optimize, further enhancing the service quality of the sea-rail combined transport trains, allowing more ‘Made in Xiangyang’ products to travel farther.”
It is reported that in the first half of this year, the shipment volume of Xiangyang’s sea-rail combined international logistics channel reached 2164 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 143%, injecting strong momentum into comprehensively improving the level of trade facilitation in Xiangyang and promoting a higher level of opening-up.
