On Thursday, a 23-car rail-sea intermodal train carrying 40-foot shipping containers departed from Yichang East Station in central China"s Hubei Province.

It sailed to Qinzhou Port in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Then the cargo will be transferred to Vietnam by sea vessel. This is the first operation of the Yichang-Vietnam rail-sea intermodal train, marking Yichang's successful opening of a new channel for southbound foreign trade exports.

Yichang is located at the junction of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, known as the gateway of the Three Gorges.

The opened Yichang-Vietnam rail-sea combined transportation will save nearly 15 days compared with the whole river-sea combined transport.

It is reported that this year Yichang will send more than 35,000 metric tons of goods through this international rail-sea intermodal transport line.

Railway authorities will increase the organization of freight sources, unblock international logistics channels from the Three Gorges to the neighboring Southeast Asian regions, and promote the regular operation of freight trains.