A freight train carrying commercial vehicles and auto parts from South Korea left Yantai Port of Shandong Port Group (SPG) on July 21, bound for Kyrgyzstan.

The departure marked the launch of China's first cross-border "single document" sea-rail-road combined freight train, ensuring the seamless transportation of goods from North Asia to Central Asia integrating sea, rail, and road transport modes.

Under the "single-document" multimodal transport model, a single transport document covers the entire journey. The service features one-time consignment, one document, one container to the end and one-time settlement.

As the initial application of the new international "single document" sea-rail-road combined transport mode, the containerized cargo on the train had previously been shipped by sea from Incheon, near Seoul, to Yantai Port.

It will next travel by rail to Kashgar in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region before being transported by truck under customs supervision to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The entire journey is expected to take about 12 days - five days less than the conventional transport arrangement.

In recent years, Yantai Port has fully leveraged its geographical advantages, working closely with China Railway, customs, maritime authorities, border inspection and pilot authorities to build a world-class port business environment.

The port has successfully supported the smooth launch and regular operation of China's first cross-border "single-document" sea-rail-road freight train service, as well as the country's first cross-border "single-document" rail-sea intermodal freight train service, providing import and export enterprises with more convenient and efficient new logistics channels.

China's first cross-border "single-document" sea-rail-road freight train departs Yantai Port for Kyrgyzstan on July 21. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]