The China (Xiamen) - Central Asia rail freight service receives the first batch of transit cargo from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Aug 9. [Photo/fjsen.com]

The China (Xiamen) - Central Asia freight train received its first batch of cargo from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Aug 9, making the country another customer of the combined international sea-railway transportation network.

On Aug 12 the transit cargo from Vietnam will be delivered to Kazakhstan. In all the freight train via Xiamen will take 10 days, shaving roughly 10 days off the duration via rail services from other Chinese cities.

Local officials said that as the departure city of the China-Central Asia freight rail service and a pivotal city on the Belt and Road route, Xiamen offers the most convenient transportation for international transit containers.

At least 10 days can be saved for transit cargo and nearly 1,500 yuan ($212.40) in logistics cost can be cut for each container compared with other transport routes.

In the first seven months of this year, a total of 368 containers valued at $27.32 million have been transited in Xiamen to European and Asian countries, statistics from Xiamen Customs showed.