Chongqing- Recently, an international freight train of the China-Laos Railway on the New International Land-sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) loaded with Lao beer arrived at the Xiaonanya Railway Logistics Hub Center in Jiangjin District, Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

This batch of Lao beer is produced by the only beer manufacturer in Laos owned by the government and the only beer in Laos named after the national brand. It contains a variety of beers such as stout, bright beer, white beer, bolden beer, India pale ale (IPA) beer, etc.  

According to the company that imported the beer, another batch of Lao beer will be at the end of the year. In addition to online channels, the product will also be sold in supermarkets and other places, so Chongqing citizens can conveniently buy it nearby. 

With a total length of 1,035 kilometers, the China-Laos Railway runs southwards from Kunming, China, to Vientiane, Laos. As the first high-speed railway in Laos, the China-Laos Railway has driven economic and social development along the route. 

Since the inauguration of the China-Laos Railway in December of last year, the distance between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been shortened, while the logistics cost of cross-border transportation has been reduced with better logistics efficiency. 

Shortening the freight time by nearly 20 days

As a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Laos Railway, which departs from Chongqing, can reach Vientiane, the capital of Laos, in four days via Yunnan Province, shortening the freight time by nearly 20 days compared with the traditional sea transport.

Data shows that China is Laos' largest investment source, export market, and second-largest trading partner, and Chongqing seizes opportunities to deepen the bilateral trade volume and investment cooperation.

In 2021, the total import and export volume between Chongqing and Laos was 390 million yuan, going up 14% yearly. As of July this year, Chongqing directly invested 63.86 million U.S. dollars in Laos. 

The China-Laos Railway has expanded the bilateral market, effectively driving the integrated development of logistics, industry, and trade in countries along the route, providing strong support for the construction of the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC) and connecting Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries. 

This batch of Lao beer is organized and transported by the New Land-sea Corridor Operation Co., Ltd. To deepen exchanges between Chongqing and Laos, the company established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Laos and created the Laos-China import and export commodity distribution center. 

In the future, the company will take the Chongqing Waterless Port of the New International Land-sea Trade Corridor as the carrier to cooperate with Laos enterprises in sectors like logistics, trade, industry, finance, and data, bringing more tangible benefits to the people of both countries.