North-south trade boosted by China-Laos Railway

Wang Jianhua. (Photo by interviewee)

“A lot of products we sell online were imported from south and southeast Asian countries,” said Wang Jianhua, manager of the marketing department of Aolai E-commerce Co. Ltd in north China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

“For example, last year, we imported spices, padauk wood furniture and ethnic-style costumes from India. We also imported fur and leather and jade from Pakistan.”

After the opening of China-Laos Railway, the efficiency of trade and logistic has risen, while the cost of import and export was reduced.

Now it’s more convenient to transport products from south China to north China, and that’s why Chinese northerners can enjoy more products and service from the southern Yunnan province and its neighboring countries.

The opening of China-Laos Railway is significant to north China’s enterprises, added Wang. Thanks to the one-stop services, customs clearance were simplified for closer interconnection and information sharing between the railway and port networks.

“Yunnan has incredible tourism resources. That is why we has much cooperation with Yunnan,” praised Wang. “We designed gift cards for meals, guest rooms or buses and posted them on our website. Our guests can get our products and service if they won the gift cards of the same value.”

When tourists go to Yunnan, they not only stimulate the consumption but also become a living advertisement for Yunnan, added Wang.

Since its opening in Dec. 2021, China-Laos Railway has transported 14.43 million passengers and 18.84 million tons of cargo.

Source:Yunnan Daily; trans-editing by Wang Yunya