Other than export products from China, products made in Vietnam and Thailand are now shipped by rail to Europe, after being moved to southwest China’s Chongqing municipality by road. It is the first southeast Asian road freight connection with Europe-bound railway services.

On the 28th of September, over 10,000 items of clothing produced in Vietnam were loaded onto a train in Chongqing, bound for Duisburg in Germany, after they had been delivered by road. In total, the road-rail journey takes twenty days, half the time it requires to ship freight by sea.

First-time connection

Chongqing began regular road freight services to Vietnam and Thailand in April last year, exporting auto parts, and importing fruit, rice and timber. It is however the first time the municipality integrated road freight with Europe-bound railway services.

“We hope it will become a competitive cargo trade route between Southeast Asia and Europe”, Qiao Zhiyu, general manager of Chongqing-ASEAN Highway Logistics Company was cited in Global Times.

A third destination will be added to the road-rail connection with Europe, as a road freight service toYangon, Myanmar via Yunnan Province is currently under construction.