January-April: China's railway freight volume up 3.6%

China's national railways transported about 1.3 billion tonnes of goods in the first four months of 2025, up 3.6 percent year on year, according to data released Monday by the national railway operator.

Daily loading volume averaged 180,000 carriages, rising by 4.7 percent, said China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

National railways moved 672 million tonnes of coal from January to April, including 464 million tonnes for power generation.

Power plant coal reserves remained high, while mining and construction material shipments jumped by 29.3 percent, and metallurgical materials rose by 10.7 percent, said the railway operator.

Railway authorities also strengthened shipping partnerships, creating 119 multimodal services that cut delivery times and costs. Rail-water container shipments reached 5.38 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the January-April period – up 19.1 percent.

Cross-border freight continued to grow in the first four months. China-Europe Railway Express operations remained stable. China-Central Asia freight trains made 4,725 trips – up 21 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the China-Laos Railway transported 1.976 million tonnes of cross-border goods – a 7.6-percent increase.