Truck freight boosts trade with S Asian countries

The first freight truck loaded with 15 tons of electronic products worth $300,000 departs from Suzhou New District, Suzhou, Jiangsu province on March 26 to Vietnam. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first freight truck departed from Suzhou New District, Suzhou, Jiangsu province on March 26 for Vietnam, local media reported.

The truck loaded with 15 tons of electronic products worth $300,000 is expected to take four days, running 2,600 kilometers, to arrive at its destination.

"The speed of truck transportation is not too dissimilar to air transport and its cost is only 40 percent of the latter," Shen Weiguo, director of the truck freight project.

Over the past few years, Suzhou has seen close trade relations with South Asian countries and numerous electronic products, machines, and textiles are exported to these countries each year.

Under such circumstances, Suzhou Zongbao Logistics Co decided to establish the first South Asia land cross-border logistics platform in Suzhou.

Exported bulk cargos from local companies will be collected in the platform's warehouses and then be transported by road to South Asian countries after passing through customs together.

At the beginning, the platform plans to place 25 trucks into service, traveling twice a week mainly to Vietnam.

In the future, the platform will launch more routes, extending its service to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and will also increase the number of weekly journeys so as to expand its service to all of South Asia.