China's rail-sea intermodal trains complete 2,000 trips in 2024

An aerial drone photo taken on March 1, 2024 shows a railway container terminal in Qinzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)

NANNING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China's rail-sea intermodal trains have completed 2,000 trips along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor since the beginning of 2024, achieving the first-quarter target ahead of schedule.

On Sunday morning, a cargo train loaded with 108 containers departed from Qinzhou railway container center station in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, heading for Sichuan Province.

This marked the 2,000th trip this year, representing a 16.8 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

"Since the start of 2024, the transportation of white sugar from Guangxi has increased by 44 percent year on year, and the transportation volume of automobiles and auto parts has grown by 128 percent. We have transported over 3,000 containers of Vietnamese import and export goods, marking an increase of 69 percent year on year," said Li Tailin, chairman of Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Transport Development Co., Ltd.

Launched in 2017, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor is a trade and logistics passage jointly built by provincial-level regions in western China and ASEAN members.

The rail-sea intermodal service has expanded to cover 71 cities in 18 provincial-level regions in China.