On July 24, 2024, two major international freight trains, the Guangdong-Yunnan-Lancang-Mekong Line and the Guangming-Bangkok China-Lao-Thailand international cargo train, full of rich goods, sounded their sirens at the Wangjiaying West Railway Station in Kunming, Yunnan province. They respectively embarked on the journey to Guangzhou in China, Vientiane in Laos and Bangkok in Thailand, which marked the official opening of a new international logistics artery across Guangdong and Yunnan to Southeast Asia, opening up a more convenient and efficient channel for inter-regional trade.

As a joint effort of Guangdong Province and Yunnan Province to actively respond to the Belt and Road Initiative, the Guangdong-Yunnan Lancang-Mekong international freight train has built an international logistics artery across Guangdong and Yunnan in China and deep into Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. This train not only promotes the connectivity between South and southwest China, but also seamlessly connects the Southeast Asian market, creating an efficient and smooth logistics corridor. According to the authority of the freight department of China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., LTD., the train carries a wide variety of goods, covering the export of electronic products, precision machinery and equipment and daily necessities in Guangdong, but also the introduction of Southeast Asia's rich natural resources, such as fresh fruit, high-quality rubber and minerals, to achieve the prosperity and complementarities of two-way trade.

With the successful launch of the Guangdong-Yunnan-Lancang-Mekong international freight train and the China-Lao-Thailand international freight train, its influence will be far-reaching. Through the important hub of the China-Laos Railway, goods can easily travel north, seamlessly connect with China's vast railway network, quickly reach the domestic core logistics nodes such as Kunming and Guangzhou, and further extend to Shanghai, Zhejiang, Xi 'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and other economic hubs. This has not only optimized the domestic logistics layout, but also opened up a new source of goods for China-Europe freight trains, so that Chinese goods can cross thousands of mountains and rivers and be exported to Germany, Spain and other European countries, promoting the deep integration of global trade.

Extending to the south, the connection between the Guangdong-Yunnan-Lancang-Mekong Line and Thailand's meter-gauge railway network has built another logistics express line connecting the Haida Ocean in Southeast Asia. Cargo from Vientiane, Laos, along the line south, can direct to Thailand's southern ports, and then connect Malaysia and Singapore and other ASEAN countries, to build a new sea facing the Indian Ocean. This layout not only greatly facilitates the flow of goods between China and Southeast Asian countries, but also provides a solid logistics support for the two sides to deepen economic and trade cooperation and share the dividends of the regional market, and jointly promote the positive change and prosperity of the Asian and even the global economic map.Editor/Zhang Liyuan