At around 10 o'clock on December 5th, accompanied by the sound of the whistle, an international freight train departing from Hanoi, Vietnam slowly entered Shijiazhuang International Land Port. This is the first China Vietnam return train welcomed by our province, marking the successful opening of a two-way and interconnected international logistics fast track between Shijiazhuang and Vietnam, and opening a new chapter of exchanges and cooperation between Hebei and RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) member countries.

This China Vietnam return train is jointly organized by Vietnam Railway Transport and Trade Co., Ltd. and Shijiazhuang International Land Port. It departed from Dongying Station in Hanoi, Vietnam on November 30th, carrying 35 40 foot containers, approximately 800 tons of wood and cassava starch and other Vietnamese products. After 5 days of transportation, it arrived at Shijiazhuang International Land Port and will be distributed to the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region and even the national market.

It is reported that compared to traditional sea routes, this train reduces the transit time of goods by half and significantly improves transportation efficiency.

"The operation of the return train is an important achievement of the China Vietnam International Train at Shijiazhuang International Land Port, which has gone from 'no return' to 'return with full load'. Liu Jinpeng, General Manager of Shijiazhuang International Land Port, said that for the same goods, if they are transported by traditional sea routes, it will take at least 15 days from Haiphong Port in Vietnam to Tianjin Port, and then transported back to Hebei by car. Now, they can arrive within a week through the China Vietnam return train.". The return train has built a two-way channel for the import and export of railway freight between China and Vietnam, allowing high-quality products from Vietnam and ASEAN to fully connect with the Chinese consumer market, enhancing bilateral trade exchanges, and injecting new vitality into regional economic development.

The normalization of two-way operation of the China Vietnam freight train between Shijiazhuang and Hanoi, Vietnam is not accidental. In recent years, Hebei and ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, have become important trade partners with each other, and bilateral trade exchanges have continued to grow. According to customs data, from January to October this year, Hebei's import and export to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" amounted to 222.25 billion yuan, including 55.12 billion yuan to ASEAN, an increase of 1.8%, accounting for 24.8% of the total import and export value to countries jointly building the "Belt and Road", making Hebei the largest trading partner.

On July 24th this year, Shijiazhuang International Land Port launched its first Sino Vietnamese train from Shijiazhuang to Hanoi. Subsequently, 15 Sino Vietnamese trains shuttled between the two cities, exporting over 18000 tons of Beijing Tianjin Hebei products to Vietnam and Southeast Asia. The opening of the China Vietnam return train will help to further unleash the RCEP policy dividend and inject greater impetus into bilateral connectivity and economic and trade cooperation between Hebei and ASEAN countries.

"The 'two-way travel' of the China Vietnam International Express helps to expand the scale of foreign trade, improve the quality and level of trade cooperation, and enhance the bilateral resource and industrial linkage effect between China and Vietnam." Li Jiangna, Manager of the Shijiazhuang International Land Port International Express Business Unit, said that Shijiazhuang International Land Port will continue to deepen cooperation with ASEAN countries' business partners such as Vietnam, coordinate overall transportation capacity, and continuously optimize the operation plan, To bring more business opportunities and convenience to bilateral enterprises and consumers, ensure stable and smooth international industrial and supply chains, and better promote common prosperity.

In recent years, Shijiazhuang International Land Port has leveraged its advantages as a national logistics hub and channel network, combined with the characteristics of Hebei's industrial development and consumer market demand, and has successively launched characteristic industrial trains such as cross-border e-commerce trains, commodity vehicle trains, second-hand car export trains, and "+Shiou" trains serving the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region. In addition, designated supervision sites for imported grain and bonded logistics centers (Type B) have been successfully approved, We have established a radioactive international logistics and economic trade channel in Shijiazhuang, attracting industries such as grain, oil and feed, automotive, cross-border e-commerce, and cold chain logistics to gather, and supporting the development of Hebei's outward oriented economy.

From January to November this year, Shijiazhuang International Land Port operated a total of 560 international trains, a year-on-year increase of 20%, surpassing the total number of trains operated last year, effectively promoting complementary trade advantages and mutual benefit between the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region and Asian and European countries.

Source: Shijiazhuang News Network