China-Laos Railway freight volume soars during Spring Festival travel rush

The China-Laos railway freight volume has soared during the travel rush of the Spring Festival.

Since February 2, the beginning of this year's Spring Festival travel rush, the import and export value of goods via the China-Laos Railway has reached 1.48 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of nearly 90 percent.

The freight volume had exceeded 320,000 tons as of Sunday.

Durians and bananas from Southeast Asia are the main imported agricultural products, which can be transported to the Chinese market within 26 hours.

From February 2 to Sunday, the freight volume of ASEAN fruits imported via the railway increased by 17.63 percent year-on-year.

The Spring Festival travel period will run till March 13 this year.

As a flagship project within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, the 1,035-km railway links Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province with the Laotian capital of Vientiane. It was put into operation in December 2021.

China-Laos Railway freight volume soars during Spring Festival travel rush

The death toll in the war-torn Gaza Strip has risen to 72,072 since the conflict between Hamas and Israel broke out on Oct 7, 2023, with injuries reaching 171,741, Gaza's health authorities said on Sunday.

The authorities said two bodies and three wounded people were brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

Since a ceasefire in Gaza came into effect last October, 614 Palestinians have been killed and 1,643 others wounded, according to the authorities.

On Sunday, a 27-year-old Palestinian woman was killed after being shot by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.

According to reports, Israeli artillery shelled eastern areas of Gaza City, the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Rafah and Khan Younis on Sunday.

Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 72,072