China Focus: China-Laos Railway facilitates trade between China, ASEAN countries

CHENGDU, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- As a train loaded with 262 tonnes of tapioca pulled into Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port on Thursday, Qingbaijiang Customs has handled a total of 101 freight trains via the China-Laos Railway since its opening in December 2021.

Over the past year, the port's customs in southwest China's metropolis of Chengdu has supervised 29,000 tonnes of goods with a value of 110 million yuan (about 15.6 million U.S. dollars).

Thanks to their unique climate conditions, Laos and other Southeast Asian countries have developed high-quality agricultural exports such as tapioca. After learning of the demands for imported agricultural products among local enterprises, the customs has optimized the clearance process for such products.

The efforts have helped products from Laos and other ASEAN countries to enter China via the China-Laos Railway while helping Chinese products to go abroad.

"We provide round-the-clock customs clearance on our appointment system, and online issuance of inspection and quarantine certificate of inbound goods, which seamlessly connects document examination and inspection to ensure 'zero delay' in the clearance of goods on the China-Laos railway," said Tao Jiansong with the customs' supervision division.

From January to November this year, the customs inspected and released 54 batches of 14,700 tonnes of tapioca imported through the China-Laos Railway, with a value of about 46.58 million yuan.

"Previously, most of the tapioca imported by our company was transported by land and sea, which took about one month. In addition, sea transportation was easily affected by weather and other elements, so the time might be prolonged," said Sun Jianwei, president of the Goodchains supply chain group.

"Now, the stable operation of the China-Laos Railway provides us with a more efficient logistics option. Transportation by railway only takes one-third of the previous time," Sun said.

To improve the operation efficiency of the China-Laos Railway, Qingbaijiang Customs has cooperated with the customs in Mengla County on the China-Laos border to streamline the clearance process, which further cuts the logistics cost by about 200 yuan per container and also reduces the overall import clearance time.

The China-Laos Railway stretches over 1,000 km, linking Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, with Vientiane.