Gansu launches first China-Africa agricultural products freight train

(ECNS) -- A freight train carrying 50 containers of apple juice concentrate departed Tianshui, Gansu Province on Thursday, and headed for Cape Town, South Africa. The freight train will leave China via Qingdao Port in Shandong Province.

This is Gansu’s first agricultural product freight train to Africa, marking the establishment of a multimodal transport corridor integrating road, rail, and sea for the province’s agricultural products.

"South Africa is the largest export market of Tianshui’s apple juice. Compared with other transport modes, this freight line can reduce the cost by 15 percent,” said Wang Xiaohong, a board director of a juice company in Tianshui. 

The China-Africa freight line will expand Tianshui’s advantages as a hub and an open city along the Belt and Road Initiative, enabling its agricultural products like apple juice, apples, and canned asparagus to be exported to the African market in a more convenient way, according to Lanzhou Customs.

Gansu has a long farming history and is suitable for the growth of agricultural products such as fruits and seeds. It is also an important production base for beef and mutton, as well as a vital supplier of vegetables for eastern China.