CHENGDU, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) — At a Southeast Asian fruit distribution middle of the Chengdu International Railway Port, containers crammed with rich-flavored durians are being unloaded.
“This batch of durians arrived via the China-Laos Railway,” in response to logistics workers on the port in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Since the start of 2025, a complete of 175 shipments of durians have arrived in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, by railway.
“Fresh Thai durians are loaded in Vientiane, Laos, and complete the entire journey to Chengdu within just 72 hours,” mentioned Chen Chuan, chairman of Chengdu LandPort New Corridor International Trade Co., Ltd., including that these fruits are delivered to the home markets directly.
Compared with sea transportation, the cold-chain specific of the China-Laos Railway cuts transit time by roughly 70 %, mentioned Chen, whereas slashing prices by about 50 % in comparison with air freight.
The Southeast Asian fruit distribution middle goals to import 8,000 tonnes of recent durians yearly and push the commerce worth to greater than 200 million yuan (about 28 million U.S. {dollars}). Meanwhile, it strives to be the biggest Southeast Asian fruit distribution middle in southwest China within the subsequent three to 5 years.
The durian story is only a footnote of the bustling commerce and logistics panorama on the Chengdu International Railway Port. From right here, a wide range of high-quality worldwide delicacies, together with Norwegian salmon, Russian king crab, Brazilian beef, and Thai black tiger prawns, can swiftly attain customers.
Additionally, the railway port additionally handles fast-moving shopper items, chilly chain bulk items, sensible merchandise and every day requirements. It has established a totally built-in provide chain — from abroad buying and cross-border transport to home distribution, mentioned Chen.
Qingbaijiang district of Chengdu takes the benefits of the Chengdu International Railway Port as a pivotal hub to hold out the import of limousines together with Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche by way of the China-Europe Railway Express departing from Chengdu. In 2024, the district imported and exported 44,000 full autos with a complete worth of almost eight billion yuan. From January to July 2025, automobile and components commerce is projected to succeed in 4.8 billion yuan, up 3 % yr on yr, in response to the railway port.
“As an inland city, Chengdu had to bear higher costs and lower speed when carrying out import and export trade,” mentioned Long Qubo, deputy supervisor of the advertising division of Chengdu International Railway Port Investment and Development Co., Ltd. “Now it has built a railway express network that runs west to Europe, north to Mongolia and Russia, east to Japan and the Republic of Korea, and south to ASEAN countries.”
At current, Chengdu worldwide railway specific connects 126 abroad cities, with over 1.5 million twenty-foot equal models (TEUs) of containers transported, producing a worth of over 60 billion U.S. {dollars}.
The provincial authorities of Sichuan on Aug. 28 issued a three-year motion plan to advertise the development of China-Europe Railway Express meeting middle hub system by 2027 and remarkably improve the operation high quality of the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu) by linking greater than 130 abroad cities. The motion plan referred to as for the Chengdu International Railway Port to handle over a million TEUs yearly and try to determine itself as a world-class railway port.