Railway goods transport between Vietnam, China surges

The total volume of goods traded between Vietnam and China going through the two border-gate railway stations of Lao Cai and Dong Dang reached more than 838,000 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up 43 percent year-on-year, according to statistics of the Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR).

The total volume of goods traded between Vietnam and China going through the two border-gate railway stations of Lao Cai and Dong Dang reached more than 838,000 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up 43 percent year-on-year, according to statistics of the Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR).

In the third quarter, although the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in many provinces and cities, affecting the volume of domestic freight transported on the North – South railway route, the volume of goods transported by rail between Vietnam and China reached more than 258,000 tonnes, a rise of more than 57 percent against that of the same period in 2020.

Pham Duc Khai, head of Dong Dang Railway Station in the northern border province of Lang Son, said that despite the complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, freight trains run normally between Vietnam and China, so the volume of international freight imported and exported through Dong Dang station reached more than 400,000 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021.

Dieu Khac Minh, an official at Lao Cai station in the northern border province of Lao Cai, stated that the average volume of goods transported by railway between Vietnam and China is about 650,000 to 700,000 tonnes each year.

During January-October this year, the station’s freight volume rose by 17 percent year-on-year.

The growth was attributed to close coordination between Vietnamese and Chinese railways, Minh stressed.

Vietnam Railways is working with Kunming Railways of China in order to increase the railway market share, and handle about 1 million tonnes of import and export goods a year between the two sides through Lao Cai station.

Nguyen Hoang Thanh, Deputy General Director of Railway Transport and Trading Joint Stock Company (Ratraco), stressed the need to invest in infrastructure in order to achieve good growth in international railway goods transport.

Vietnam News Agency – November 15, 2021