Customs officers from Chongqing Port Customs inspect imported bananas from Laos. (Photo/Chongqing Customs District)
Chongqing - More than 2,000 tonnes of bananas have been shipped from Laos to Chongqing via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) since late January, as a new rail-to-rail cold-chain service enters regular operation, Chongqing Customs District said on July 7.
The service allows bananas from Laos to travel directly to Chongqing Guoyuan Port by China-Laos Railway trains. After arrival, the fruit undergoes destination inspection and quarantine before being distributed to fruit wholesale markets in Chongqing and surrounding areas.
New rail cold chain helps lower fruit prices
Previously, bananas from Laos were usually transported by truck to the border, cleared there and then transferred to domestic vehicles for delivery to Chongqing. The process added loading and unloading, vehicle waiting time and handling costs, while also raising quality risks for fresh fruit, especially during the summer season.
The current service keeps the fruit in rail-based cold-chain transport until it reaches Chongqing, reducing border transshipment and allowing inspection and quarantine to be completed at the destination.
Gan Rui, deputy general manager of New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor Chongqing Intermodal Development Co., Ltd., said rail-to-rail cold-chain transport has become more cost-effective as trucking rates rise during the fruit season and fuel prices remain high. Compared with traditional road transport, the service has reduced overall logistics costs by about 18%.
At Chongqing's Guoyuan Port, shipments of different tropical fruits from Southeast Asia are unloaded into cold-chain warehouses before being distributed across China.
After being consolidated and distributed in Chongqing, fruit imported from Southeast Asia can reach markets within a 1,000-kilometer radius—including Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan and Hubei provinces—within 24 hours, said He Daoguo, president of Chongqing Meilian International Warehouse & Transport (Group) Co., Ltd.
Yang Liu, head of New Western (Chongqing) Agricultural Products Co., said Southeast Asian fruit once relied mainly on sea transport, resulting in longer delivery times and higher spoilage. Today, logistics networks such as the China-Laos Railway and the ILSTC have significantly improved transport efficiency.
Lower logistics costs and reduced spoilage have also helped cut prices. Overall transportation costs have fallen by 10% to 15% in recent years, allowing businesses to pass more savings on to consumers, Yang said.
Speeding fruit imports through faster clearance
The growing trade is reflected in customs data. Chongqing imported 476.4 million kilograms of agricultural products, including fruit, in the first quarter of 2026, up 145.6% from a year earlier, according to Chongqing Customs District.
New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor Operation Co., Ltd. said it imported 310 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of bananas from Laos via the China-Laos Railway in the first four months of the year, a 370% increase from the same period last year.
Chongqing Customs District has included destination inspection and quarantine of imported fruit under the ILSTC framework in its cross-border trade facilitation program. After goods arrive at Guoyuan Port, Chongqing Port Customs opens a fast inspection channel to speed up clearance while maintaining biosecurity controls.
“The China-Laos Railway, as an important part of the ILSTC, is providing a more stable and efficient route for quality agricultural products from Southeast Asia to enter the Chinese market,” said Zhao Kai, deputy director of the district’s Animal and Plant Quarantine Department.
The customs authority will further expand trade facilitation measures to more companies, supporting smoother cross-border logistics between western China and Southeast Asia.
(Wanqing Lu, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)