China-Laos friendship: Yuxi rail-side logistic hub in full swing
The “China-Laos Friendship via Railway of Happiness” international networks media tour took participating reporters to central Yunnan’s Yuxi city on May 25.
Under taken by the Yunnan Gateway, a multilingual web portal under Yunnan Daily Press Group, the event is sponsored by the Cyberspace Affairs Office of Yunnan Party Committee.
Yuxi is a key node on the China-Laos Railway. During the interview, the reporters learned that the five stations along the Yuxi section of the China-Laos Railway have been opened for nearly half a year, giving a strong pull to local economic performance.
Jerry Wang (R; 2nd) and his peer Chen Zhan(R; 1st) stage a live streaming via WeChat.
Among other things, Yuxi has set up a major logistic hub near the railway, and this impressed the reporters a lot. Jerry Wang, an English anchor with Yunnan Gateway, and his peer Chen Zhan from iChongqing, staged a live streaming via WeChat, winning endless likes and comments online.
“Around 100 train carriages and 200 containers of cargo are unloaded at the Yuxi freight hub daily, allowing goods from the Chinese localities of Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Hubei to be shipped to Laos via the railway.” He Yawei, a train station manager, said via the live stream.
Located at the Y-shaped intersection of the central and eastern lines of the Trans-Asian Railway network, the Yuxi international logistics hub will link up the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao greater bay area and the Yangtze River delta in China, boosting their export to countries in and south and southeast Asia.
Xiaoma: logistics thrive with China-Laos railway
Dedicated to providing smart solutions for the supply chain and logistics chain, the Yuxi-based Xiama oGuoju Technology Company is seizing business opportunities brought by the China-Laos Railway.
Smart map of Xiaoma Guoju
The company first set up its business in Yuxi, a place that used to be neglected, but now the international is injecting vitality into the company by planning in advance and making up for shortcomings.
In the past six months, Xiaoma Guoju has received more than 200 orders regarding trailer service, connecting upstream suppliers of car sellers, trailer manufacturer and more with downstream customers such as logistics companies.
By integrating the capacities, customers and information through its smart platforms, Xiaoma has shared cargo sources and service items with other logistics enterprises, realizing cost reduction and efficiency improvement.
Prior to the opening of the Sino-Lao railway, Xiaoma had been doing road freight, transporting over a million tons of cargo per year from Xishuangbanna in south Yunnan to Yuxi in central Yunnan.
Up to now, the company has shifted 40% of its transport services from road to rail, increasing its cross-border cargo sources by 10% since this year.
Making good use of the China-Laos railway, Xiaoma will localize and digitize its logistic businesses to ASEAN countries, in a bid to mitigate the negative impact by the Covid outbreaks.
Sailing taps new markets along railway
The Sailing Pharmaceutical Technology Group is located in the Daying street of Hongta district,central Yunnan’s Yuxi city, and its chief engineer Yang Tianshi showed much interest in knowing about the markets in Southeast Asian and Central Asian countries.
Yang (L;1st) presents Sailing products to his guests.
Yang asked the reporters about the traditional medicines in Thailand and Laos, saying he is ready to exchange views and cooperate with his counterparts in the ASEAN countries given the opening of China-Laos railway.
The automated manufacturing plant of Sailing is a place of pride for Yang Tianshi, where bottles of "Henggu Bone Healer" were rolled out. Amid the Covid pandemic, the company reached an gross output value of 588 million RMB in 2021.
According to Yang, Sailing has also increased its research and development efforts by joining hands with famous medical institutions and as a result, effect of the healer oil has been enhanced.
During the Covid-19 epidemic, many countries have become more aware of the role and efficacy of Chinese Chinese medicine, and Southeast Asian countries, with their cultural proximity to China, are more receptive to traditional Chinese medicine.
"Only being well-prepared can we seize the opportunity." Yang Tianshi believes the China-Laos railway will make Yunnan ethnic medicine better known to our friends in Southeast Asia, while Yunnan folks are also expecting authentic herbs to be imported from Laos and others via the railway.
Huazhuang hopes to export Dai specialties to ASEAN
Established in 2007, the Huazhuang Frozen Food Company in central Yunnan’s Yuxi city specializes in making and selling ice cream.
A production line of the Huanzhang company
Using Yunnan's rich fruit resources, ethnic characteristics and its pioneering spirit, Huazhuang has developed 100 types of ice cream. Filled with sugar, glutinous rice, pineapple and more, the Xiaohuayao ice cream series have been favored by consumers in China and ASEAN alike.
"Vietnamese friends especially liked our ice cream with sunflower seeds in it,” said Fei Cuihua, chairman of Huachuang food firm. Before the Covid, the ice cream was sold to Myanmar, Laos and other ASEAN countries with an annual sales reaching 5 million yuan.
The opening of the China-Laos Railway has rekindled Fei Cuihua's expectations for the Southeast Asian market. "When the international passenger train of China-Lao railway is opened, I’d like to take the train to Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries for market investigation"
Fei said that years later, Huazhuang will set up a marketing team to extend its sales network to Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and other countries through the Trans-Asian Railway routes, in a bid to increase the company's market share in the region.
Reporting by Li Ling, Wang Huan, Cao Yunbo, Yang Chunmei, Zi Jianfei and Li Wenjun; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue and Li Jingshuo