A fruit transport route linking Cambodia and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has officially started operation, chinanews.com reported on March 12.

The liner using the shipping route, jointly operated by Wanhai Lines, Yang Ming Marine Transport and Maersk Line, recently arrived at Qinzhou Port, marking the opening of the third fruit transport route between Beibu Gulf Port and ASEAN countries. 

The container ship will travel from Qinzhou to Zhejiang's Ningbo, Shanghai, Sihanoukville in Cambodia, Bangkok and Laem Chabang in Thailand before heading back to Qinzhou. 

Three ships with a handling capacity of 1,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each will be used for this line. The ship departs every Friday. 

Fruit from Sihanoukville can be transported to Guangxi's Beibu Gulf Port in just seven days and is then able to reach markets in Asia and Europe through sea-rail intermodal freight trains. 

A person in charge of Beibu Gulf Port Group said that the fruit transport routes between Guangxi and ASEAN countries have been opened amid the increasingly close trading relationship between China and ASEAN countries and due to ASEAN's industrial demands. The first fruit transport route, to Thailand, was opened in 2017.

The fruit import and export business of Beibu Gulf Port has increased by 151 percent annually on average since 2017.