Huaihua emerges as ASEAN freight hub

The multimodal transport center at Huaihua International Land Port in southwestern Hunan province was operating at full capacity in August. 5G remote-controlled cranes loaded containers onto trains, while a smart dispatch center monitored operations in real time.

The port handled 1,220 freight trains in 2025, ranking second among members of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. Its cold-chain train volume ranked first among inland ports nationwide. In the first half of 2026, it dispatched 36,000 TEUs, up 20 percent year on year, worth 5.2 billion yuan ($723 million).

Huaihua International Land Port. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The port has opened seven international logistics corridors and 216 transport routes, handling 70 percent of the corridor's southbound cargo. It is the first inland port in central China to run regular two-way cold-chain trains to Laos and Vietnam. Under Hunan's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), it aims to become central China's ASEAN freight assembly center.

"The products take only 10 minutes to reach the port from our factory, then go directly to overseas customers via multimodal transport," said Qian Peng, assistant to the general manager of Hunan Litong Hengyu Cable Technology.

Hu Gang, deputy director of the port's management committee, said rail-sea intermodal and China-Vietnam services grew over 80 percent this year, with exports covering luggage, bamboo products, agricultural goods, electronics and new energy vehicles.

Over the next five years, Huaihua will make its international land port the core engine for high-quality development, aiming to become a key gateway for the five-province border region, a leading national railway cold-chain port, and a leading AI-powered inland hub. It will expand its four-direction logistics network, deepen ASEAN and African markets, and integrate AI, big data and the Internet of Things into port operations.