Boost multi-modal transport capacity at Huaihua international land port
On June 30, containers fully loaded with cargo were assembled at Huaihua International Land Port, ready for departure. At 1:40 a.m. on July 1, a scheduled rail-sea inter-modal freight train carrying the cargo slowly pulled out of Huaihua West Railway Station. It then headed south along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor toward Qinzhou Port East in Beibu Gulf, Guangxi.
The train carried a total of 82 TEUs, with a combined cargo weight of 1,120 metric tons and a total value of about US$452,000. The cargo consisted of three major categories: paper rolls, plywood and metal structural frames, produced respectively in Yueyang and Changsha in Hunan Province, as well as in Hubei Province. Through rail-sea intermodal transport, the goods will be shipped in batches to Singapore, Vietnam and the United States. Once the service enters regular operation, goods from surrounding areas including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Chongqing will be able to gather rapidly in Huaihua before reaching ASEAN countries and major ports worldwide via Beibu Gulf.
This was the first departure of the Huaihua West–Qinzhou Port East scheduled freight train after its inclusion in the national railway timetable. It marks a new step forward in the multimodal transport capacity of Huaihua International Land Port. The train operates under a scheduled service model, featuring fixed departure and arrival points, a fixed route, a fixed timetable, fixed pricing and a fixed train number. According to estimates, the journey takes only 22 hours and 16 minutes, truly enabling “next-day arrival at port” and significantly reducing transit time compared with the previous model.
To ensure the smooth launch of the scheduled service, Huaihua Customs, under Changsha Customs, has continued to deepen reforms in customs clearance and supervision. It has promoted facilitation measures such as “direct loading and direct pickup,” advanced new regulatory models for sea-rail multimodal transport, and ensured efficient and smooth customs clearance. At the same time, it has strengthened coordination with customs authorities along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, improving cross-border logistics clearance efficiency and helping more Hunan products, as well as products from central China, reach global markets.
Local foreign trade enterprises are among the first to feel the benefits of the scheduled train service. Mu Xiaofeng, head of Hunan Xiangtong Industrial Co., Ltd., made a simple calculation: “In the past, our luggage exports had to detour through Nansha Port or Yantian Port, which took three days on the road. Now, with the scheduled train service to Qinzhou Port, transport time has been reduced to within 24 hours. Our products can reach the market faster, and capital turnover has become more efficient.”
Hunan Rongjing Bamboo Industry Development Co., Ltd. has also benefited from the land port. Since first shipping goods through the port in 2023, the company has grown to a stable monthly shipment volume of dozens of TEUs. Its products are now exported to countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan. According to the company’s head, the scheduled train service has shortened transport time from the previous three to four days to just 22 hours, improving efficiency by more than 50 percent. “The competitiveness of Huaihua bamboo products in the international market has reached a new level,” one person in charge said.
In addition, Huaihua International Land Port has introduced an “inland pre-positioning service for empty containers.” Under this model, standard maritime containers are directly stored at the designated container area of the multimodal transport center at Huaihua International Land Port. Enterprises can pick up containers nearby as needed, load their goods locally and then send them directly onto the Qinzhou Port train. The entire process follows a “one container to the end” model, reducing losses and inconvenience caused by container transfers during transit.
By June 28, Huaihua International Land Port had dispatched 695 freight trains this year, carrying goods worth about 4.9 billion yuan. The number of trains dispatched in the first half of the year is expected to exceed 700. To date, the land port has dispatched more than 3,500 trains in total. It has opened 216 international and domestic routes, formed seven major international logistics corridors, and extended its reach to 238 ports and stations in 69 countries and regions.
As Hunan’s only key node for connecting with and integrating into the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, Huaihua is accelerating its transformation from a transport corridor into a logistics hub. The launch of this scheduled train service has laid a solid foundation for building a premium rail-sea intermodal route for exports from the Greater Xiangxi region to ASEAN countries via Huaihua International Land Port. Going forward, Huaihua International Land Port will continue to expand the coverage of its train services, increase service frequency, and strengthen its role as a national logistics hub, providing more efficient and stable international logistics support for enterprises in central China as they expand into global markets.
(Translated by Feng Tao)