New Qinghai-Dong Nai rail line halves China-Vietnam freight transit to seven days
The Qinghai-Dong Nai intermodal train now moves cargo from inland China to Vietnam in about seven days, cutting the previous 12-15 day journey in half.
A newly launched intermodal container train runs from Qinghai in China to Dong Nai’s Trang Bom station in Vietnam, covering almost 4,000 km and slashing transit time from 12-15 days to about seven, customs clearance included. The service mirrors rapid growth in cross-border rail freight, which reached 1.15 million tonnes in 2024 and exceeded 1.4 million tonnes in 2025. Deputy General Director Nguyen Hoang Thanh noted that the railway policy moves border-gate functions inland, allowing trains from Qinghai, Nanning and Suzhou to serve Vietnamese production centers directly.
The sector is also developing two-way services to ship Vietnamese goods to China, reducing empty backhauls. Major infrastructure projects such as the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong line and studies on Hanoi-Dong Dang and Hai Phong-Ha Long-Mong Cai are intended to link northern ports with Chinese borders, supporting a future trans-ASEAN rail corridor outlined in the revised 2021-2030 master plan.
Why it matters
Shorter rail times lower logistics costs and strengthen trade links between China, Vietnam and the wider ASEAN market.
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