Freight train service inaugurated between Shanghai, Vientiane

KUNMING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- A freight train service between Shanghai and Vientiane, capital of Laos, was launched on Sunday.

A train loaded with cargo including fruits and rubber from Southeast Asia departed from the Wangjiaying West Station in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province on Sunday morning, marking the inauguration of the service.

The train is expected to take 82 hours to reach Shanghai, according to the information office of the Kunming municipal government.

This train service, which links the China-Laos Railway and the Shanghai-Kunming Railway, will be operated both ways.

The China-Laos Railway is a landmark project under the Belt and Road Initiative. Since the start of its operation in December 2021, trains using the line have delivered some 27 million tonnes of cargo to destinations including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. Up to 25 provincial areas in China have launched cross-border freight train services along the railway line, figures show.