HARBIN, April 12 -- A regular joint land and maritime cargo service from a northeastern Chinese city to an eastern Chinese port via a Russian port opened Tuesday, local authorities said.

The first batch of goods, including grain, petrochemical products, and starch, were transported by train from Suifenhe city along China's border with Russia in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province to Vostochny Port in Russia, according to the government of Suifenhe City.

A ship loaded with the goods in 290 standard containers set out from Vostochny Port Tuesday. It is scheduled to arrive at Taicang Port, eastern China's Jiangsu Province, on Friday, shortening the transport time from 10 days to around five.

The cargo ship will start its return journey on Sunday from Taicang Port, carrying electronic products, light industrial products and textile products to be exported to Russia, and is expected to reach Vostochny Port on April 19.

The new service along the route is operated by a Heilongjiang-registered company. Before the service opened, cargo services along the China-Russia-China route were all operated by foreign companies.

Li Lidan, president of the company, said the China-Russia-China land and maritime joint transport route had directly shortened the journey between Heilongjiang and southern China to make the transport more efficient and lower transport costs.