The opening ceremony for an international freight train that connects Laos and China's Shanghai was held in Kunming, Yunnan province on Sunday. [Photo by Yang Zixuan/ For chinadaily.com.cn]

Kunming, Yunnan province and Shanghai opened a new joint international freight train on Sunday to deepen the integration of commodity supply chains and industrial chains.

The freight train departed from Vientiane, Laos on Oct 6 with South East Asian commodities. It will arrive in Shanghai after an 82-hour journey. On the same day, another freight train departed from Shanghai with 26 compartments of brush breakers, sprayers, washing machines, water dispensers, display cabinets and freezers. After four to five days, it will arrive in Vientiane, Laos.

This is the first joint international freight train opened by Yunnan and Shanghai, setting a good example for Yunnan-Shanghai cooperation and boosting the integration of commodity supply chains and industrial chains.

As a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Laos Railway has opened cross-border cargo trains in more than 25 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China.

As of October 3, over 26.8 million tons of goods have been transported by the China-Laos Railway, and the categories of goods have increased to more than 2,700 kinds. The railway covers 12 countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.