NANNING, April 16 (Xinhua) — On the night time of April 10, a cross-border freight practice departed from the Nanning International Railway Port in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, carrying a cargo of electronics and industrial elements destined for Southeast Asia.
The practice, a central hyperlink within the China-Vietnam railway community, left at midnight for the 14-hour journey south. The cargo arrived the next afternoon at Yen Vien station, a sprawling rail terminal on the northern outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital.
The route, which started with not more than 5 journeys in a month in 2017, has since matured right into a crucial commerce artery, shifting Chinese equipment to Vietnamese factories and contemporary produce again north.
Over the previous decade, Chinese rail authorities have steadily upgraded this rail hall into a contemporary logistical spine, utilizing elevated practice frequency and streamlined customs clearance to shorten transit instances.
Statistics mirror an explosion in demand. In 2025, freight trains originating from Guangxi dispatched 37,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equal models) to Vietnam, a year-on-year leap of 86 p.c, a brand new document, in line with railway information.
The number of cargo has additionally diversified, increasing from a handful of primary commodities to 455 product classes, together with high-end circuit boards and specialised metal plates. Over the course of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) interval, rail exports from Guangxi to Vietnam grew over sixfold in comparison with the earlier five-year cycle.
A achieve in effectivity has additionally performed an enormous function on this surge in commerce. In 2025, the China Railway Nanning Group Co., Ltd. scaled up hauling capability on the Pingxiang-Dong Dang phase, boosting border throughput by 30 p.c. With Nanning Customs now providing round the clock clearance by appointment, the weekly schedule has been expanded, elevating the variety of trains from three to 14.
At the Nanning International Railway Port, a brand new freight consolidation system which permits a number of distributors to “pool” shipments, has turn into a serious draw for small and medium-sized enterprises. The follow has reportedly slashed delivery prices for foodstuffs by roughly 400 yuan (about 58.3 U.S. {dollars}) per container.
“The trains are punctual and cost-effective, exactly what we need for our exports to ASEAN,” mentioned Zou Desong, deputy common supervisor of Guangxi Guitong Sinotrans Customs Clearance Co., Ltd. His firm witnessed a 180-percent rise in container quantity final 12 months.
Beyond freight, the resumption of passenger companies in May 2025 after the pandemic restored an important cultural and tourism hyperlink.
Official information present that since its resumption, greater than 25,000 vacationers have crossed the border through this service, with passengers together with Vietnamese college students and European backpackers.
For Zong Jianhui, a Chinese businessman who repeatedly shuttles between Nanning and Hanoi, the in a single day sleeper is now his most popular selection.
“If I drive across the Youyiguan Pass in the city of Pingxiang, the whole day is lost to exhaustion,” Zong mentioned. “On this train, I leave Nanning in the evening, sleep through the border, and step off in Hanoi ready for afternoon meetings.”
The attraction can also be environmental for some. Lise Dubos, a French traveler, selected the route to reduce her carbon footprint. “It’s much less polluting than flying,” she famous. “We’re excited to see Vietnam this way. It feels like a proper journey.”
According to rail authorities, a brand new longer-haul sleeper service now connects Beijing to Hanoi. Passengers board within the Chinese capital on Thursday or Sunday afternoons, change trains in Nanning, and get up in Vietnam, a laid-back overland various to crowded flights that has quietly gained reputation amongst budget-conscious enterprise vacationers and households.
This rail hall additionally performs a key function within the grand nationwide technique. For China, the hall serves as a southern spoke of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, linking inland Chinese provinces to ASEAN markets.
For Vietnam, the hall has already pushed down freight prices and tightened the hyperlink between its northern manufacturing zones and world provide chains, with ongoing standard-gauge rail upgrades set to additional improve connectivity.
Guangxi, China’s solely provincial-level area with each land and sea borders with ASEAN, has positioned itself as a logistical hub.
Nanning, the autonomous area’s capital metropolis, operates 17 cargo routes from its airport to Southeast Asia, whereas its rail port serves as a group level for items from 25 Chinese provinces.
In 2025, town’s international commerce hit 104.4 billion yuan, together with 54.9 billion yuan of export and 49.5 billion yuan of import, up 19.3 p.c and 5.7 p.c, respectively, 12 months on 12 months, in line with official information.
From working simply as soon as per week as a trial service to working every day journeys carrying numerous kinds of cargo, this rail route on the frontier has turn into a concrete signal of how two economies and their persons are rising extra related.