Huaihua International Land Port handles 720 trains in the first half of 2026. (Photo/Zhang Zhuo)

Huaihua is a key node on the eastern route of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and Hunan's sole freight hub oriented toward ASEAN. Since the start of the year, Huaihua International Land Port has been focusing on "stabilizing freight volumes, expanding routes, cutting costs, and boosting efficiency," making breakthroughs in train shipments, cold-chain logistics, network coverage, and specialized services. The port now runs 217 routes, connecting 252 destinations in 75 countries and regions, with cargoes spanning 539 product types across 17 categories, a testament to its growing comprehensive logistics capacity.

While maintaining steady growth in shipment volume, Huaihua International Land Port has  notably optimized its structure. The cold chain sector, in particular, has seen 1,322 containers delivered (equivalent to 26 trainloads), up 74% year on year. From Hunan's vegetables, fruits and flowers to dragon fruit and frozen durian from Southeast Asia, a cross-border two-way cold chain "fast lane" is taking shape.

At the same time, Huaihua International Land Port shows prominent consolidation effect of cargos, with 59% of cargos sourced from across the province, and 41% from other regions, demonstrating the "one port, multiple sourcing regions" network effect and continuously enhancing cross-regional transshipment and distribution capabilities.

Prioritizing quality over quantity, Huaihua International Land Port has been upgrading its cargo structure. The share of bulk ore has dropped from 55% in 2023 to 26% now. High-value-added cargo such as new energy raw materials and electronic components play a leading role, with the per-container value of high-grade nickel matte up to 2.2 million CNY, showing a high-quality development trend of "stable volume with rising value."

Focusing on both local development and external expansion, Huaihua International Land Port leverages its dedicated lines to provide customized logistics solutions for local industries such as suitcases, bags and leather goods, and bamboo and wood processing. Meanwhile, the port collaborates with Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and the regions along the westward route, consolidating chemicals and light industrial products for transit via Huaihua.

A gantry crane loads and unloads cargo at the Huaihua International Land Port Multimodal Transport Center. (Photo/Zhang Zhuo)

Huaihua International Land Port has innovated cold chain models to lower costs. It facilitated the establishment of a pre-positioned cold chain warehouse by leading Lao banana producers, a first-ever in its overseas front-end warehousing strategy. The "Lancang-Mekong Express + fixed-schedule cold chain train" model has boosted cross-border cold chain transport efficiency by 20% while cutting overall costs by the same margin.

Huaihua International Land Port has launched fixed-schedule freight trains from Huaihua West Railway Station to Qinzhou Port East Railway Station, with the entire travel time shortened to 22 hours and achieving "next-day arrival." For cold chain transport, it collaborates with China Railway Special Cargo Transportation to operate the "8+1" refrigerated container set (one generator car supplying power to eight refrigerated containers), ensuring direct, temperature-controlled delivery of dragon fruit from Vietnam within six days, significantly enhancing the capacity to ensure freshness and quality.
 
The new energy raw material dedicated line at Huaihua International Land Port has been put into operation, with the first direct train on the Qinzhou Port-Xinhuang dedicated line launched. The direct freight train for high-grade nickel matte shortens the transport time by more than four days compared to conventional transport modes. The two-way channel connecting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is gaining momentum. The Changsha North Station-Huaihua-Nansha Port "knocked-down (KD)" relay train and point-to-point premium train completes the trip in just 55 hours, precisely meeting the urgent shipment needs of foreign trade enterprises.
 
Additionally, Huaihua International Land Port has reformed its rail-sea transit supervision model by implementing the single-document system, replacing the traditional segmented customs clearance process, enabling one-time declaration and through documentation. At the same time, the port has introduced regular empty container reserves of seven leading shipping companies including COSCO. This opens a direct empty container channel connecting seaports with the land port, allowing inland enterprises to "pick up containers at the factory and deliver on demand."

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: Chinanews