A Ho Chi Minh-Wuhan cold chain freight train loaded with more than 400 tons of Vietnamese basa fish arrived in Wuhan in Central China’s Hubei province on Oct 22 -- marking the first cold chain freight train from Vietnam to Wuhan, according to the Changjiang Daily.
Wuhan Asia-Europe Logistics is the Wuhan-based company providing Sino-European freight train services.
Naturalists say the basa fish is an important freshwater aquaculture species and source of food in Southeast Asia – being tender, flavorful and nutritious.
It is a type of catfish and mostly farm-raised in Vietnam. Some 1.6 million tons of basa fish are caught globally per year, half of which are from Vietnam.
China is one of the main markets for basa fish. After an investigation and survey, it was found that Wuhan is a large market for basa fish sales. Each year, about 100,000 tons of the fish are sold in Wuhan, mainly used for making fish balls, fish fillets and glutinous rice cake with fish.
Previously, basa fish imported from Vietnam had to be transported to the ports of Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Qingdao – after which the fish was transferred to Wuhan by car, with the transport typically taking 20-30 days. Stocks of the fish also sometimes ran out in Wuhan because of extreme weather conditions including typhoons.
The Ho Chi Minh-Wuhan cold chain freight train left Ho Chi Minh on Oct 14 and arrived in Nanning in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, through Pingxiang Port, before finally reaching Wuhan on Oct 22.
According to Wang Lijun, president of Wuhan Asia-Europe Logistics, starting this week the Ho Chi Minh-Wuhan cold chain freight train is scheduled to run once weekly.
