China and Russia meet! Railway freight cooperation is on a new journey

On April 28, 2023, Liu Zhenfang, chairman of China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., held talks with Belozerov, general manager and chairman of the management committee of Russian Railways, on the implementation of the March this year. The important consensus reached and the deepening of Sino-Russian railway transportation cooperation were exchanged, and the minutes of the talks were signed.

It was mentioned in the conversation between the two parties that in 2022, the freight volume between China and Russia will hit a new high (via land border passages and sea ports), reaching 121 million tons (a year-on-year increase of 31%).

In the first quarter of 2023, the total volume of freight will reach 38.4 million tons (a year-on-year increase of 76%). The volume of cargo passing through the post-Baikal-Manzhouli, Grodiakovo-Suifenhe and Nizhnienskoye-Tongjiang ports reached 7.5 million tons (a year-on-year increase of 46%).

At the same time, the two sides also expressed their views on how to strengthen the cooperative relationship in the railway field between the two countries.

Chinese side:

1. Innovate the organization of port operations, improve the efficiency of port traffic and the quality of China-Europe trains;

2. Take the lead in realizing the paperless transportation of Sino-Russian railway intermodal cargo;

3. Further enhance the capacity of railway port passages and stations, and continuously improve the level of interconnection of international railway passages.

Russia:

1. Close connection and efficient cooperation with China Railway to improve the efficiency of port operations;

2. Jointly promote the expansion of the full timetable of the China-Europe Railway Express;

3. Develop new products for railway transportation;

4. Use modern digital technology to promote paperless transportation;

5. Strengthen the docking of railway port infrastructure development planning;

6. Expand exchanges in the fields of railway culture, technology, and human resources cooperation between the two countries.

Belozerov spoke positively of the important achievements of China-Russia railway cooperation. He pointed out that the railway transportation cooperation between China and Russia is of great significance to the promotion of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and the development of Asia-Europe railway transportation.