Nippon Express offers first intermodal China-ASEAN service

Nippon Express (China) (NX China), part of Nippon Express Holdings, launched a multimodal transport service linking China and neighboring ASEAN countries via truck and the international railway connecting China and Laos.

Cargo is moved by rail between Kunming, China and Vientiane, Laos and then by truck from Vientiane to Thailand and other neighboring ASEAN countries across the international border with Thailand’s Nong Khai Province. It takes five days to complete the trip between Kunming and Ayutthaya, Thailand.

The service reduces CO₂ emissions by using rail transport and shortens lead time by half a day compared to conventional transport by cross-border trucks only. It serves as an alternative to ocean shipping.

Following the launch of the Nanning-Hanoi railway, the new China-Laos railway connecting Kunming and Vientiane was opened on December 3, 2021. Before the railways opened cross-border trucking was the only ground transport option connecting China and ASEAN.

Nippon Express’s multimodal transport service avoids congestion on the China-Laos border, shortens lead times and enables bulk transport by using the new connecting railway to Vientiane, Laos.

The NX Group, formerly the Nippon Express Group which renamed its corporate group name following transition to a holding company system in January, 2022.