(ECNS) -- More than 200,000 metric tons of Southeast Asian fruit had been transported to China via the China-Laos Railway this year as of Wednesday, up 11.16% year on year, China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd. said Thursday.

Of the total, durian shipments exceeded 186,200 metric tons, an increase of 22.53% from a year earlier. 

Since the railway opened in December 2021, tropical fruits from Southeast Asia, including durians, bananas, dragon fruit and mangosteens, have been transported to China by rail. As the region entered its peak fruit season this year, daily cross-border fruit shipments repeatedly reached new highs.

Railway authorities in China and Laos have opened a green channel for fresh produce, giving such shipments priority in handling and dispatch. 

All-rail cold-chain freight services linking China, Laos and Thailand now operate regularly, while services such as the Lancang-Mekong Express can deliver Southeast Asian fruit to the Chinese market in as little as three days.

（By Helen Mo, intern Yang Hongran）