Xinhua News Agency, Kunming, April 14th　Title: Changes in China-Vietnam railway gauge witnessed the deepening of economic, trade and cultural exchanges between China and Vietnam

  Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Yiquan

  At 12:50 noon on the 14th, the waiting hall of Yunnan Hekou North Railway Station adjacent to the Sino-Vietnam border was crowded with people, and there were 40 minutes left before the departure of the C560 high-speed train to Kunming South Station.

  Vietnamese tour guide Huang Wenjin was waiting for the train with a tour group composed of 11 Vietnamese tourists. He told the tourists beside him: "The high-speed train is very punctual and the procedures are convenient. You can just arrive at the station 40 minutes in advance."

  As a "frequently" at Hekou North Railway Station, Huang Wenjin leads a team here every few days, sometimes leading Vietnamese tourists to take high-speed trains to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, and sometimes leading the return Vietnamese tourists on their way home.

  The picture shows Vietnamese passengers queuing out of the station at the North Station of Hekou, Yunnan on April 14. (Photo by Liu Haoliang)

  "Go to Kunming to visit Cuihu, eat bridge rice noodles... I have many choices to continue playing. Take the high-speed train to Dali for two hours to see Erhai Lake, and three hours to Lijiang for the ancient city." Huang Wenjin lamented that the railway tracks have stringed the beautiful mountains and waters of Yunnan, and more and more Vietnamese tourists like to travel to China, enjoy the natural scenery and feel the cultural customs.

  China and Vietnam are connected by mountains and rivers, and the railway, as an important link, witnesses the deep friendship between China and Vietnam.

  More than a hundred years ago, the sound of the horse gang's copper ringtones echoed among the mountains in southern Yunnan, and the sound of the whistle of the train in the Red River Canyon had broken through the air. In 1910, the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, which is 854 kilometers long and connects Kunming, China and Haiphong, Vietnam, was completed and opened to traffic. The cities along the way, including Kunming, Mengzi, Kaiyuan, etc., had increasingly frequent trade deals with Vietnam.

  The gauge of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway is 1,000 mm, so it is also called the meter-gauge railway. At present, the China-Vietnam-Rail Railway is operated by the Kaiyuan Vehicle Section of China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

  "The speed of the China-Vietnam-Gauge Railway is only about 30 kilometers per hour, but more than 100 years ago, it was enough to significantly shorten the travel time between China and Vietnam, and the traffic between people and goods along the route is more frequent and convenient." Pu Zhiwei, deputy director of the Kaiyuan Vehicle Department, said that before it was opened to traffic, the entire water transportation from Kunming, China to Haiphong, Vietnam took an average of about one month. According to the train schedule in 1911, it only took 3 days from Kunming to Haiphong.

  The China-Vietnam R-Gauge Railway has been galloping for a hundred years. Statistics from Kaiyuan Vehicle Service Section show that 378,900 tons of rice-rail international transport was completed in 2024, an increase of 23.37% year-on-year.

  "Relying on the China-Vietnam R-Gauge Railway, we carry out two-way convection transportation of raw materials and finished products with Vietnam. We will deliver high-quality products to the fields of Vietnam to help local agricultural development and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results." said Ma Xuetao, deputy general manager of the Marketing Center of Yunnan Yuntianhua Hongphosphorus Chemical Co., Ltd.

  With the deepening of cultural exchanges between China and Vietnam and the closer economic and trade cooperation, the meter-gauge railway is gradually difficult to adapt to development needs. At the end of 2014, the Mongolian-Hikou Railway was opened, which marked the opening of the entire Kunming-Hekou Quasi-Gauge Railway.

  From 1000 mm to 1435 mm, the wider gauge brings faster speed and greater transportation capacity, and also makes Yunnan's opening door to Vietnam wider and wider. According to statistics from Kunming Customs, in 2024, Yunnan's import and export trade volume with Vietnam was 22.14 billion yuan, an increase of 18.6% year-on-year. In the Beishan International Freight Site at the Hekou Highway Port, trucks loaded with flowers and electronic products are constantly flowing; at the market in the old streets of Vietnam, daily necessities and smart home appliances made in China have become popular goods.

  The picture shows Zhang Yuexin, deputy passenger station manager of Honghe Station, talking to Vietnamese passengers through an intelligent translation machine on March 17. (Photo by Liu Haoliang)

  Goods flow smoothly, and people enjoy their actions. In recent years, the number of Vietnamese tourists entering the "China tour" from Yunnan has continued to rise, and Honghe Station and Hekou North Station have been used as "department stations" to go to the hinterland of Yunnan after entering the country. Statistics from Kaiyuan Vehicle Service Section show that in 2024, Yunnan Honghe Station and Hekou North Station served a total of 1,750 Vietnamese groups and 52,400, setting a record high.

[Editor in charge: Wang Xue]