More than 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers for rail-sea intermodal transportation have been delivered via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor by Saturday as a train numbered X9596 heading from Qinzhou City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.
The train was fully loaded with foreign goods such as edible vegetable oil, quartz sand and other materials from Southeast Asia.
The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, jointly built by provincial-level regions in western China and ASEAN members, now reaches more than 500 ports across over 120 countries and regions, according to sources.
"At present, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor has linked directly or indirectly 73 cities and 156 stations in 18 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China, and the goods transported via it have reached 523 ports in 124 countries and regions around the world," said Huang Jiangnan, head of the Qinzhou Port's east railway station, Guangxi Coastal Railway Company of China Railway Nanning Bureau Group.
Data from China Railway Nanning Bureau Group showed that dozens of new commodities like Nigeria's lithium ore have been included in the corridor transportation.
Currently, the cargo transported along the route covers dozens of major categories including electronic products, complete vehicles and parts, machinery, small household appliances, and food, with commodities totaling 1,157 types.
China's western land-sea trade corridor sees record container throughput
Uganda on Thursday announced the temporary suspension of flights to and from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following an outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease that has killed dozens of people.
Diana Atwine, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, said in a statement issued in Kampala that the National Task Force (NTF), chaired by Uganda's Vice President Jessica Alupo, had resolved to suspend all flights between Uganda and the DRC, with the measure taking effect within 48 hours.
The move follows the detection last week of two imported Ebola cases in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
A 59-year-old Congolese man died from the virus at Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala, while the other patient remains in isolation at Mulago National Referral Hospital. A total of 127 contacts have been identified and are in institutional quarantine.
According to Atwine, the government has also temporarily suspended public passenger ferry services on the Semuliki River, cross-border bus operations and all public passenger transport between Uganda and the DRC for the next four weeks, while allowing the continued movement of goods and food supplies.
According to the ministry, weekly markets in border sub-counties across high-risk districts have also been suspended for four weeks.
The NTF has activated a series of preparedness and response measures, including the suspension of cultural celebrations and commemorative events that draw large crowds along the Uganda-DRC border.
Over the past 24 hours, health authorities in the DRC and the World Health Organization have reported a worsening outbreak across the central African nation, with around 600 suspected cases and 139 probable deaths recorded since the outbreak was officially declared on May 15.
Uganda suspends DRC flights amid efforts to prevent Ebola outbreak spillover
