On the morning of July 5, 2023, the China Afghanistan Express Line (Lanzhou to Hairatan, Afghanistan), a new land and sea channel in western Lanzhou, will run from Lanzhou International Land Port in Gansu Province.

This train is jointly shipped by Gansu Co., Ltd., Lanzhou International Port Multimodal Transport Co., Ltd., and Jieshite Logistics Co., Ltd. operated by the Land Sea New Channel. The transported goods include automotive parts, furniture, office supplies, mechanical equipment, etc., totaling 39 containers, with a value of 1.5 million US dollars. The train starts from Dongchuan Logistics Center in Lanzhou, and after arriving in Kashgar, Xinjiang, it will be transported by truck. It will leave the country from Erkeshtam, arrive in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, and then transfer to the railway, and finally arrive in Hairatan, Afghanistan.

The person in charge of Gansu Co., Ltd. for the operation of the Land Sea New Channel introduced that the Lanzhou China Arab Express International Train is an extension of the China Jiwu International Freight Train.

Lanzhou is a strategic channel connecting the Eurasia Continental Bridge and a transportation hub connecting the southwest and northwest. It is an important gateway for China to open up to the west and south. As an important platform for the province to serve the country's opening up, the Lanzhou Dry Port is an important international logistics transit hub and international trade material distribution center along the the Belt and Road. It has successively opened 10 outbound ports, including Dzungarian Gate, Khorgos, Irkeshtan, Erenhot, Pingxiang, and Jilong. It has opened international trains in six directions, namely, China Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan, the new land and sea channel in the west, and the Longhai Channel, to Moscow Duisburg, Almaty, Tashkent, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and more than 20 countries and more than 30 cities.

The opening of the China Arab Express International Freight Train on the new land sea channel is of great significance for Lanzhou to build a national important comprehensive logistics hub and open a new highland to the west and south. It not only further expands the radiation and international influence of the new land sea channel in Central Asia, but also reflects the important role of the new land sea channel in linking Central Asia, integration and service.Editor/Ma Xue