China's rail-freight volume refreshes single-month record in May

Aerial photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a train running on the Datong-Qinhuangdao railway after the railway's overhaul in north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)

BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) -- China's rail-cargo volume, a key indicator of economic activity, rose 6.6 percent year on year to a record high in May, as the country further smooths logistics to underpin the economy amid COVID-19 control, according to data issued by the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. on Wednesday.

A total of 340 million tonnes of cargo was transported on China's railways in the period, 21.1 million tonnes more than that in the same period last year, according to the company.

Among the cargo was 5.02 million tonnes of grain and fertilizers, a 28.2-percent increase year on year, the data shows.

The country also ferried 110 million tonnes of coal used for power generation via railways last month, up 7 percent year on year, ensuring coal storage in 363 power supply plants for 33.4 days.

Last month, China-Europe freight trains handled 129,500 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers, with the average daily volume climbing 13.3 percent from April. The China-Laos Railway saw 138,200 tonnes of goods transferred for cross-border trade, up 4.3 percent from a month ago.