KUNMING, April 4 -- During the first quarter of this year, the China-Laos Railway handled some 1.38 million tonnes of import and export goods, up 33.6 percent year on year, a quarterly record high, said Kunming Customs on Thursday.

The import and export goods transported via the China-Laos Railway have expanded from 583 varieties in the first month of its operation to about 3,000 varieties now.

Over the years, the railway's train operations have become more intensive. It began operations with two trains per day, and has since increased to 20 trains per day, according to the customs authorities.

As a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the 1,035-km China-Laos Railway connects Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, with the Laotian capital Vientiane. It began operations in December 2021.