The first freight train of China's newly launched "Zheng He" Sea-Road-Rail international service departed from Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province on Friday, loaded with 26 containers of local specialty products.
After arriving in Vientiane, Laos via the China-Laos Railway, the new multimodal service will transport goods bound for Thailand, Singapore and Bangladesh via three separate routes.
The launch of the service marks the creation of the first route from Kunming to Chattogram, Bangladesh. The route will bypass the Strait of Malacca, cutting the transport distance by one-third and the travel time by half to just 18 days.
Moreover, the total integration of sea, road and rail into a single service vastly simplifies shipping procedures, with no unpacking or transshipment during the entire journey, providing a faster and more cost-effective pathway for Chinese goods to reach overseas markets.
The multimodal service is named after Chinese explorer Zheng He (1371-1433), who, over an extraordinary span of 28 years, embarked on seven epic voyages and commanded a fleet that reached distant shores as far as Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and even East Africa.
First train of "Zheng He" international sea-road-rail shipping departs from Yunnan
China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.
In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.
"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.
This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.
By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.
The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.
"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.
China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting
