News / Container depots for empties on China-Laos line can cut logistics costs

Credit: State Council.

China Railway is to set up a series of container depots in Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam to facilitate the return of empty containers used to carry goods along the China-Laos Railway, which opened in December.

The first was opened near Thailand’s main container port, Laem Chabang, on Saturday, when its first empty box arrived.

Previously, rail cargo bound for Thailand would be offloaded at the Vientiane station in Laos, before being trucked to Thai destinations and empty containers had to be returned to Vientiane, at a cost.

The Thai depot, operated by China Railway subsidiary China Railway Container Transport Corp (CRCT), facilitates the return of empty containers to Laem Chabang, cutting these costs by 20%.

The Thai depot will also allow customers to pick up empty containers to take cargo to China via the China-Laos Railway.

As one of the major projects of China’s Belt and Road initiative, the line took five years to build, at a cost of $6bn, most of which was paid for by China. The railway links Laotian capital Vientiane with the Chinese city of Kunming, a major manufacturing and transport hub.

Thailand’s deputy prime minister Jurin Laksanavisit told the Xinhua News Agency his country hopes to use the railway to export more fruit and vegetables to China.