High-speed railway passengers in China can now travel with their pets starting Thursday, thanks to a pilot program launched by the country's railway operator.
The program, launched by China Railway Express on Tuesday, allows passengers and their furry companions to travel together on select high-speed trains along the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, creating a record for the country's rail system.
The first train allowing the pet-friendly service departed from Beijing South Railway Station at 09:24 on Thursday.
The pilot service is being tested on 10 train services running between five major stations, namely, Beijing South, Jinan West, Nanjing South, Shanghai Hongqiao, and Hangzhou East. Travelers can make reservations through the 12306 system, the railway ticket and service booking network, at least two days in advance.
The pet must be a domesticated cat or dog in good health, weighing no more than 15 kilograms and no taller than 40 centimeters at the shoulder. A valid animal health certificate is required for the owner to access the service.
The pet owner needs to book a spot for their cat or dog in a specially designed pet transport container equipped with sensors monitoring air circulation, oxygen, humidity, noise and odor.
Once on board, the animal is kept separately in a designated compartment, away from passenger seating areas.
"During the journey, our staff keep an eye on the animal through the monitoring system in the special pet container and conduct an inspection every two hours. We provide water to the pet as needed, but feeding is not permitted mid-journey," said Zhang Lei, a China Railway Express staff member, in an interview with China Central Television.
The service follows a "same departure, same arrival" policy, ensuring that pets and their owners depart and arrive at their destinations simultaneously.
Passengers are advised to arrive at the station a few hours before departure to complete the necessary check-in procedures. Pets can be collected within one hour after arrival, with pickup notifications sent via text message or phone call.
According to China Railway Express, the service is part of broader efforts to modernize the country's transportation infrastructure and meet the growing demand for pet-friendly travel options.
First high-speed train allows pets to travel with owners
China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.
Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.
"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.
China's development never a threat: FM spokesman
