URUMQI — Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region saw its railway freight volume top 45.8 million tons in the third quarter of 2020, up 10.6 percent year-on-year, railway authorities said on Oct 17.

The volume of rail-freighted coal, metallic ores, and other bulk materials have maintained growth momentum, thus helping boost the local economy, according to China Railway Urumqi Group Co Ltd.

Amid regular epidemic prevention and control, Xinjiang railway departments have ensured the smooth transportation of priority goods such as coal, chemical products, and metallic ores by expanding station capacity and increasing the operating frequency of 10,000-ton trains.

Those departments have also cooperated with their Kazakh counterparts to promote international trade, with the transportation volume of imported metallic ores exceeding 1 million tons in each of the first three quarters of the year.