China's New Western Land-Sea Corridor saw cargo volumes surge to new heights in 2025, as rail-sea express freight services moved 1.425 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 47.6 percent year-on-year rise, according to China Railway Nanning Group.
At the Qinzhou Port East Station in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a key hub along the corridor, containers from overseas are swiftly transferred to trains heading inland to destinations such as Chongqing Municipality and Guizhou Province in China's southwest.
Meanwhile, Chinese exports, from machinery to regional specialties, are loaded onto ships bound for global markets.
"Shipments from the port to western China include both daily necessities and industrial raw materials. And goods exported via the port range from auto parts to regional specialties like Chongqing lemons and Guizhou tea," said Zhao Jian, deputy station master of Qinzhou Port East Station under the Coastal Railway Company of China Railway Nanning Group.
To accommodate growing demand, railway operators have added more scheduled freight lines along the corridor in 2025. Some 44 regular rail-sea routes were in operation in 2025, 21 more than at the end of 2024.
Efforts to streamline logistics have also gained pace, with the expanded use of a "single bill" system for multimodal transport which cuts intermediate handling and simplifies documentation. Last year alone, 13,600 TEUs were shipped under this model.
"The corridor now regularly connects with China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight services, creating a highly efficient international logistics network," Zhao said.
The corridor has achieved consistent growth throughout China's 14th Five-Year Plan which ended in 2025. Over the past five years, it handled a cumulative 4.652 million TEUs, setting new annual records and providing a reliable transport artery that boosts trade and economic ties across regions while powering regional development.
China's New Western Land-Sea Corridor sees record freight traffic in 2025
Taoiseach of Ireland Micheal Martin, who wrapped up his five-day official visit to China, has praised China's progress in areas such as digital economy and green energy, saying Ireland is willing to deepen economic and trade cooperation with China in emerging sectors while enhancing cooperation on multilateral affairs.
It is Martin's first visit to China since taking office and the first by an Irish prime minister in 14 years.
Speaking during a joint interview with Chinese media outlets in Beijing, Martin spoke positively of the steady development of bilateral relations in recent years, highlighting closer people-to-people exchanges and growing ties in higher education.
"We now have a direct flight between Dublin and China and that's very important in terms of people to people. Our education links are very strong and we have many partnerships between Irish higher education institutions and Chinese higher education institutions and that's important," he said.
Martin said economic and trade ties remain a key pillar underpinning the sound development of bilateral relations.
He recalled that bilateral trade has seen exponential growth since his first visit to China 20 years ago, when he served as minister for enterprise, trade and employment.
Looking ahead, he expressed expectations for expanded cooperation with China in such emerging fields as digital economy and green transition.
"We will be embarking on a major investment in offshore renewables over the next decade. We already are in the planning process. It's a windy island, so we have a lot of wind to harness for energy. So we do see opportunities in AI as well. Ireland is a very strong location for investment, as a member of the European Union, the only English-speaking country now in the Eurozone and in the European Union. And it's a good access point to the European consumer market. We believe there's a greater opportunity for Chinese companies to locate in Ireland," he said.
As Ireland is set to assume the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of 2026, Martin said Ireland adopts a pragmatic policy towards China within the EU and stays committed to promoting a EU-China relationship framework that effectively manages differences while expanding mutually beneficial cooperation.
"What is important is that we continue to dialogue and see can we develop frameworks of agreement on the big picture. The WTO is also very important forum for resolving trade issues. Both Europe and China would acknowledge that industrial resilience, economic security issues are important issues, but that has to be balanced with an open free trade environment. So we are against tariffs. We think tariffs are ultimately damaging to the world economy," he said.
At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Martin paid an official visit to China from Jan 4 to 8. In addition to Beijing, he also visited Shanghai.
Irish Taoiseach sees broader cooperation with China in emerging sectors
