China's rail cargo volume up 5.9 pct in first seven months

Aerial photo taken on July 22, 2022 shows a freight train running on the Xishansi grand bridge in the Dali-Baoshan section of the Dali-Ruili Railway in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's rail freight volume, a key indicator of economic activities, rose 5.9 percent year on year in the first seven months of the year, continuing the trend of expansion in the first half of 2022, official data showed.

More than 2.89 billion tonnes of cargo were transported via China's railways during the period, according to the Ministry of Transport.

In July alone, China's railways handled 414.33 million tonnes of cargo, up 12.3 percent from the same period last year, said the ministry.

The data also showed that during the Jan.-July period, the turnover volume of cargo traffic through China's railways went up 9.2 percent year on year to top 2.05 trillion tonne kilometers.