The China-Laos Railway has handled over 10 million tonnes of goods this year as of Saturday, according to China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd on Sunday.
Data show that average daily freight volume exceeded 67,000 tonnes, while cross-border cargo transport surpassed 2.5 million tonnes during the period.
Freight traffic on the route has maintained strong momentum this year. The number of cross-border freight trains operating each day has increased from two at the early stage of operations to a peak of 23, while train hauling capacity has risen from 2,000 tonnes to 2,800 tonnes, boosting carrying capacity per train by 40 percent.
The route has recorded more than 76,000 freight train trips so far this year, of which over 22,000 were international services. In the first quarter, the value of imports and exports transported via the route reached 6.81 billion yuan (about 1 billion U.S. dollars), up 62.7 percent year on year.
Railway authorities have also introduced a range of measures to improve logistics efficiency. Through rapid transfers via China-Europe freight train hubs in cities such as Chongqing and Chengdu in southwest China, rail transport time from countries such as Laos and Thailand to Europe has been reduced to 15 days. Cross-border cargo services now cover 31 provincial-level regions in China and 19 countries and regions, including Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The variety of cross-border goods has expanded from just over 10 categories when the railway first opened to more than 3,800.
In addition, all-rail cold-chain freight services linking China, Laos and Thailand are now in regular operation, allowing fresh fruits from Southeast Asia to reach Chinese markets in as little as three days. As of Saturday, imports of fruits transported via the route this year had exceeded 185,000 tonnes, up nearly 73.1 percent from a year earlier.
China-Laos Railway freight volume exceeds 10 mln tonnes in 2026
By leveraging the Shanghai Science and Technology Film City, Shanghai is forging a full-chain AI film ecosystem that covers computing power, data, models, and application scenarios, thus driving the integrated development of "film plus technology."
At a workshop during this year's Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), staff showed how a green screen and virtual studio can create a video of someone flying on a sword in only 10 minutes, a process that once took hours or even days.
"Our new AI workflow can bypass the tedious process of creating 3D assets. We only need a simple white model to position the actor within the scene. Then, AI takes care of everything, including integration of lights and shadows, computer-generated visual effects, and traditional manual production, dramatically improving efficiency," said Wang Yi, marketing director of a Shanghai-based virtual production technology company.
Technological innovation, continuous upgrades, and the pursuit of quality have become industry standards for filmmakers and television producers.
"What we're working on now is using a full AI workflow to adapt a classic black-and-white movie into a short drama series of 60 episodes, each about two to three minutes long. With the rapid improvement of large language model capabilities, on the production side, we can complete a short drama project of over 100 minutes in just about two months," said Yu Xin, a person in charge of a company based at the Shanghai Science and Technology Film City AI Creation Ecosystem Center.
Located in Songjiang District, the Shanghai Science and Technology Film City houses over 8,000 film and TV enterprises, forming a full-chain AI ecosystem that covers computing power, data, models, and application scenarios.
"The AI Creation Ecosystem Center has attracted more than 50 companies over the past year and secured over 50 million yuan in commercial commissions. Moving forward, we will provide support not only in terms of computing power and funding but also through talent-related policies," said Zhao Huiying, director of the Songjiang District Culture and Tourism Bureau.
Shanghai drives 'film plus technology' with AI ecosystem
