CHENGDU, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- At a Southeast Asian fruit distribution center of the Chengdu International Railway Port, containers filled with rich-flavored durians are being unloaded.

"This batch of durians arrived via the China-Laos Railway," according to logistics staff at the port in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Since the beginning of 2025, a total of 175 shipments of durians have arrived in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, by railway.

"Fresh Thai durians are loaded in Vientiane, Laos, and complete the entire journey to Chengdu within just 72 hours," said Chen Chuan, chairman of Chengdu LandPort New Corridor International Trade Co., Ltd., adding that these fruits are delivered to the domestic markets without delay.

Compared with sea transportation, the cold-chain express of the China-Laos Railway cuts transit time by roughly 70 percent, said Chen, while slashing costs by about 50 percent compared to air freight.

The Southeast Asian fruit distribution center aims to import 8,000 tonnes of fresh durians annually and push the trade value to more than 200 million yuan (about 28 million U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, it strives to be the largest Southeast Asian fruit distribution center in southwest China in the next three to five years.

The durian story is just a footnote of the bustling trade and logistics landscape at the Chengdu International Railway Port. From here, a variety of high-quality international delicacies, including Norwegian salmon, Russian king crab, Brazilian beef, and Thai black tiger prawns, can swiftly reach consumers.

Additionally, the railway port also handles fast-moving consumer goods, cold chain bulk goods, smart products and daily necessities. It has established a fully integrated supply chain -- from overseas purchasing and cross-border transport to domestic distribution, said Chen.

Qingbaijiang district of Chengdu takes the advantages of the Chengdu International Railway Port as a pivotal hub to carry out the import of limousines including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche via the China-Europe Railway Express departing from Chengdu. In 2024, the district imported and exported 44,000 complete vehicles with a total value of nearly eight billion yuan. From January to July 2025, vehicle and parts trade is projected to reach 4.8 billion yuan, up 3 percent year on year, according to the railway port.

"As an inland city, Chengdu had to bear higher costs and lower speed when carrying out import and export trade," said Long Qubo, deputy manager of the marketing department of Chengdu International Railway Port Investment and Development Co., Ltd. "Now it has built a railway express network that runs west to Europe, north to Mongolia and Russia, east to Japan and the Republic of Korea, and south to ASEAN countries."

At present, Chengdu international railway express connects 126 overseas cities, with over 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers transported, generating a value of over 60 billion U.S. dollars.

The provincial government of Sichuan on Aug. 28 issued a three-year action plan to promote the construction of China-Europe Railway Express assembly center hub system by 2027 and remarkably enhance the operation quality of the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu) by linking more than 130 overseas cities. The action plan called for the Chengdu International Railway Port to manage over one million TEUs annually and strive to establish itself as a world-class railway port. ■