On the morning of July 2nd, the first "Thailand Laos Zhengzhou" fruit cold chain return train loaded with durians arrived at China Railway Union Zhengzhou Central Station located in Zhengzhou Economic Development Zone. This is the first time that Henan Province has imported fruits from Southeast Asia through the China Laos Thailand Railway, marking the successful opening of a dedicated cold chain logistics channel for fruit imports directly to RCEP countries in Henan Province. The exchange and cooperation with RCEP member countries have reached a new level.
The international cold chain train departed from Sapuri Station in Thailand on June 26th, loaded with high-quality durians from southern Thailand, entered through Mohan Port, and finally arrived at Putian Station in Zhengzhou after 6 days of full cold chain transportation. Compared to traditional sea and car transportation routes, this train has a shorter time and significantly lower costs.
"This batch of fruits will be distributed and distributed to the surrounding areas and even the national market, taking advantage of Zhengzhou's superior geographical advantages, further enriching the people's' fruit basket ', allowing consumers to taste the fresh and delicious imported durian." The on-site staff explained, "This is just the beginning, and in the future, we will regularly carry out fresh and cold chain import and export business, allowing people to achieve' durian freedom 'and' tropical fruit freedom 'faster and better."
On site of the pick-up ceremony. Photo by Wang Pei
The opening of the China Europe Railway Express (Zhongyu Express) "Thailand Laos Zhengzhou" fruit cold chain special line this time is a vivid practice of the China Europe Railway Express (Zhengzhou) assembly center actively seizing the opportunity of RCEP implementation and comprehensively supporting high-level opening up to the outside world. The opening of this line not only achieves an organic combination of production and market demand in China and Thailand, but also enriches the local people's "fruit basket". It has also added a green, safe, economical, and efficient freight transportation channel to the entire Central Plains region, further strengthening cross-border trade between the Central Plains region and ASEAN countries.
Vice Mayor of Zhengzhou, Ma Zhifeng, introduced that Zhengzhou will use the fruit cold chain special train as a link, fully leverage the comparative advantages of "hub+logistics+openness", accelerate the expansion of Nantong Road routes to RCEP member countries, continuously improve multimodal transportation, one ticket to the end, single window and customs integration, introduce more high-quality international products, promote more "Made in Zhengzhou" to go out, and strive to build the China Europe freight train (Zhongyu Express) into a "direct train" to the international market and a "new engine" for outward oriented economic development, playing a greater role in deeply integrating into the domestic and international dual circulation.
As the window and gateway of Henan Province and Zhengzhou City to the outside world, after 10 years of rapid development, China Europe Express (Zhongyu) has become an important platform for Central Plains to integrate into the construction of the "the Belt and Road" and build a modern comprehensive transportation system. As of now, nearly 8000 trains have been operated, with an import and export freight volume of nearly 4.2 million tons and a cargo value of 28 billion US dollars