Opening of Shijiazhuang international transit route

On the morning of August 2, at Yen Vien station, Vietnam Railways Corporation held a ceremony to welcome the first train on the route from Shijiazhuang (China) to Yen Vien (Vietnam).

Attending the ceremony, on the Chinese side were Mr. Truong Sieu Sieu, Standing Member of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Shijiazhuang City Party Committee; Hung Ba, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Vietnam. On the Vietnamese side, there were Mr. Nguyen Danh Huy, Deputy Minister of Transport ; Nguyen Ngoc Canh, Vice Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises.

Delegates welcomed and congratulated the first train on the international transit route from Shijiazhuang to Yen Vien.

In his opening speech, Mr. Dang Sy Manh, Chairman of the Board of Members of Vietnam Railway Corporation, said that the Prime Minister has approved the plan to “Improve international intermodal transport capacity by rail”. According to this plan, in the coming years, the volume of goods transported internationally by rail will increase by 3-4 times compared to the present.

The first international freight train from Shijiazhuang City (Hebei Province, China) to Yen Vien has a journey of about 2,700 km, a transport time of 4-5 days with 23 vehicles, carrying nearly 800 tons of goods including metal equipment, chemicals and fertilizers.

On behalf of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, Vice Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Canh suggested that Vietnam Railways Corporation increase the organization of international trains to countries in the region, in line with the planning orientation of Vietnam's railway network connecting the Asia-Europe railway via China's railway.

Delegates presented flowers to the crew of the first international train on the Shijiazhuang - Yen Vien route.

On the Chinese side, Mr. Truong Sieu Sieu expressed his hope that the two sides would further strengthen exchanges and connections, and make efforts to ensure better quality services for the long-term and effective operation of China-Vietnam international trains. From there, they would continuously expand operational efficiency, support the socio -economic development of the two countries, and contribute to promoting the construction of a high-quality "One Belt, One Road" initiative.

In addition, Mr. Hung Ba said that the traffic connection between China and Vietnam plays an important role in the cooperative relationship between the two countries.

The official opening of the Shijiazhuang-Yenyuan international transit line is an important development in the high-quality “Belt and Road” cooperation between China and Vietnam. This will help high-quality products from both sides enter each other’s markets more conveniently.

Mr. Liu Rui Ling, Chairman of Hebei Green Port Group, said that Vietnam is an important export market of Hebei Province, and also a major trade and investment partner of Hebei Province in the ASEAN bloc. The opening of the Shijiazhuang-Yenyuan railway will expand cooperation and create momentum to expand the scale of bilateral trade cooperation.

“Shijiazhuang International Green Port is the main inland port for building connections between Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, and is also the only large-scale international dry port that regularly handles international trains. Therefore, the construction of a multi-layered, multi-channel, multi-modal railway transport route and the development of logistics will present a bright future picture of smooth trade connections between the two sides,” said Liu Ruiling.

Leaders of Railway Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company and leaders of Shijiazhuang International Port Logistics Limited Company signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement.

At the ceremony, Railway Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company (Ratraco) and Shijiazhuang International Port Storage Company Limited signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement between the two enterprises.

Accordingly, the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of exploiting goods sources; two-way transport of goods by specialized ships; building warehouse systems; multimodal transport systems, etc.

In the immediate future, the cooperation will be realized by organizing a two-way train from Shijiazhuang to Yanyuan and vice versa with a minimum frequency of one train/week. Then, based on actual demand, the train frequency on the route will be increased.

Shijiazhuang City is the capital of Hebei Province (China) with a population of over 11 million people, playing an important role in the Chinese national railway system connecting Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. In recent years, Shijiazhuang City has become a hub for organizing international trains to Russia, Europe, Central Asia, Mongolia, and ASEAN countries.

According to Chinese media, a representative of the Shijiazhuang International Road Port said that Vietnam is one of Hebei Province's main trading partners in ASEAN. Previously, shipping goods by sea to ASEAN markets, including Vietnam, usually took 15 days, but the opening of the China-Vietnam railway route has shortened the time to less than half.

Along with exploiting the advantages of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the opening of this cargo route will promote two-way trade between Hebei province and ASEAN markets, while contributing to the formation of a complementary mechanism for raw material sources between the ASEAN region and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei triangle area of China.