At about 11:00 a.m. on January 6, the China-Laos Railway (Huaihua-Vientiane) of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) started its journey to Vientiane, Laos. It is the first international freight train in Hunan, even in central China departing from ASEAN, which marks the formal integration of Huaihua into the new land-sea channel.

The cargo train, carrying 72 containers of goods including local oranges, agricultural machinery, construction tools, ceramic tiles and daily necessities, will exit China via the port of Mohan in southwest China's Yunnan Province, and is expected to reach Vientiane after about four days.

The new route can reduce transportation time from Hunan to ASEAN countries by two-thirds compared with highway transportation. So far, Huaihua, as the freight assembly center of Hunan Province to ASEAN, has opened a golden channel to realize the comprehensive, modern, high-quality, and leading development of the regional economy.

At the starting ceremony, Hunan Huaihua International Land and Port Development Co., Ltd. and New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Co., Ltd. signed the cooperation agreement on the cross-regional integrated operation platform of the new land-sea channel. At the same time, the two sides will set up a regional company in Huaihua to build a new land-sea corridor together.

The commencement of the China-Laos railway train (Huaihua-Vientiane) will drive Huaihua and its surrounding areas to speed up the construction of a panoramic international logistics pattern. It will further expand the network of contacts of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor based on Huaihua and Wanxiang as the key nodes and enhance the market competitiveness and sustainable development of Hunan's and even the central regions' enterprises in international trade.

Huaihua, located in the center of the border area of five provinces (Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangxi), is the gateway of the central region to the southwest. It is considered a key node city of the national implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, connecting Europe and Asia in the north and ASEAN in the south.

In recent years, Huaihua has actively served and integrated into the new development pattern based on a national comprehensive transportation hub, vigorously developing an export-oriented economy. It is the only city in Hunan as an important station on the east line of the ILSTC, playing a vital role in constructing a strategic gateway city for the corridor.