China-Laos Railway Cross-Border Cargo Trade Surpasses 80 Billion Yuan

This newspaper report from Kunming, April 7th (Reporter Ye Chuanzen)
Kunming Customs’ Mengla Customs data shows: Since the opening and operation of the China-Laos Railway, as of April 7th, the import and export cargo value has exceeded 80 billion yuan, and the categories of imported and exported goods have expanded from over 500 in the early days of operation to 3,800.
It serves more than 6,000 enterprises nationwide, radiates to Laos, Thailand, and 19 other countries and regions, injecting momentum into high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road” and promoting regional interconnectivity and mutual benefits.

In the first quarter of this year, the import and export cargo value of the China-Laos Railway reached 6.81 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62.7%, setting a new high for the same period in history.
In terms of imports, the value of imported fresh and dried fruits via the China-Laos Railway was 500 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 100%; imports of grains, metal ores, and mineral sands and other bulk commodities totaled 1.13 billion yuan, a 34.6% increase.

On the export side, the “new three” categories exported via the China-Laos Railway reached 1.3 billion yuan, a 10.4-fold increase year-on-year, among which photovoltaic products exported amounted to 1.19 billion yuan, a 43.2-fold increase, with the volume of “new” foreign trade continuously rising.
The China-Laos Railway is becoming an efficient two-way trade corridor for “Chinese manufacturing heading south and Southeast Asian specialties heading north.”