China's backwoods open to the Belt and Road

LANZHOU, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Gansu Province is boosting its foreign trade and international industrial cooperation via the Belt and Road.

A rail-sea cargo transit route now links Lanzhou, the provincial capital, with Singapore.

Lanzhou was connected to the route in September last year with the opening of a railway linking the city with Chongqing in southwest China.

So far, six trains have carried a total 5,500 tonnes of goods from Lanzhou.

Gansu will also open a rail/highway route between Lanzhou and Gwadar Port in Pakistan this year.

Last year, trade between the province and countries along the Belt and Road reached 13.5 billion yuan (2.1 billion U.S. dollars), up 32 percent.

The province has 33 industrial cooperation projects with 16 countries along the maritime and land Silk Road routes. Enditem