China is a member of the
International Union of Railways (UIC). The country's
UIC code is 33. Chinese railways has adopted and begun to implement the
GSM-R wireless rail communications standard. China is also a signatory to the
Trans-Asian Railway Network Agreement, an initiative of the
UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to promote the integration of railway networks across Europe and Asia. Railway connectivity is a major focus of the
Belt and Road Initiative. Use of BRI-related rail surged after the COVID-19 pandemic, which had congested air freight and sea shipping, and hampered port access. As of 2024, multiple BRI railway projects were branded as the China Railways Express, which linked approximately 60 Chinese cities to approximately 50 European cities.
Russia China's three rail crossings into Russia are all located along the eastern section of the
border between the two countries. . The crossings at
Manzhouli and
Suifenhe are at either ends of the
Trans-Manchurian Railway, which was a shortcut for the
Trans-Siberian Railway built through northeastern China in the early 1900s. Manzhouli, in the
Hulunbuir region of northern
Inner Mongolia, is China's busiest inland port. It borders
Zabaykalsk in
Zabaykalsky Krai of Russia's
Transbaikal region and handles the bulk of the bilateral freight trade and one of the Beijing-Moscow passenger train routes. Suifenhe, in southern
Heilongjiang, borders the town of
Pogranichny in
Primorsky Krai of the Russian Far East. The rail station on the Russian's side is called Grodekovo. Freight trains from Harbin to
Khabarovsk and
Vladisvostok pass through Suifenhe. As of November 2008, there was no through passenger service, but one could travel along this route with transfers in Suifenhe,
Grodekovo and
Ussuriysk. A third rail connection is located further south at
Hunchun in eastern
Jilin bordering
Kraskino, near the southwest tip of Primorsky Krai. The station on the Russian side, called
Makhalino, is located on the
Ussuriysk-
Khasan-North Korean border line, about from Khasan. This border crossing began operating in February 2000, and saw only a minor amount of traffic (678 railcars of lumber) over the next two years. The line was closed in 2002–2003, reopened in 2003, but, as of the summer of 2004, it was still reported as seeing little traffic. The line was closed between 2004 As of 2011–2012, plans existed for reopening it, primarily to be used for shipping coal and mineral ores from Russia to China; The border crossing reopened, initially in a trial mode, in 2013. The Khorgas crossing, opened in December 2012, provides a more direct route from Ürümqi to Almaty.
Vietnam tracks at
Đồng Đăng in Vietnam accommodates both
metre gauge trains from
Hanoi and
standard gauge trains from
Nanning and other cities in China. There are two rail connections between China and
Vietnam, at the
Friendship Pass and
Hekou. At the Friendship Pass on the border between
Pingxiang,
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and
Đồng Đăng in Vietnam's
Lạng Sơn province, the
Hunan–Guangxi railway connects to the
dual gauge Hanoi-Đồng Đăng Line. The crossing, opened in 1955, has displaced the older Hekou crossing as the primary rail link between the two countries. There are twice weekly
trains from Beijing to Hanoi and both traverse the Friendship Pass. The trains consist of a typical T style Chinese express from Beijing to Đồng Đăng. The train may require passengers to detrain in
Nanning for 5 hours (especially on the northbound service); a lounge area with reclining chairs is available for Soft Sleeper passengers. At Hekou, the narrow-gauge
Kunming–Hai Phong railway from
Kunming, in
Yunnan crosses into Vietnam's
Lào Cai province. This line, also known as the Yunnan–Vietnam railway, was built by France from 1904 to 1910 though rugged terrain. Cross-border service on this line ceased in late 2000, but freight trains have kept this crossing operational.
Laos A railway connecting Kunming to the border with Laos is under construction, which connects to another under construction line linking the border to the Lao capital Vientiane, which already has a real link to Thailand. The line was opened on 3 December 2021 at the 60th anniversary of
China–Laos relations.
Proposed rail links In recent years, China has been actively exploring and promoting the extension of its railway network to neighboring countries and distant regions including the Russian Far East, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and even North America.
Macau Macau SAR is currently served by
Macau Light Rail Transit completed in 2019. A "
Hengqin Branch Line" is planned for the network, which will connect the network directly to
Hengqin, part of
Zhuhai in Guangdong. The extension line is planned to connect with
Guangzhou–Zhuhai intercity railway at the Hengqin station which is part of its first phase extension project that is scheduled to complete in year 2018, and would facilitate seamless cross border rail transit. Additionally, the city of Guangzhou,
Zhongshan, and Zhuhai have proposed the construction of a new "Guangzhou-Zhongshan-Zhuhai-Macau Intercity Railways" which could further connectivity on the west bank of
Pearl River Delta.
Russian Far East In November 2008, the transport ministries of Russia and China signed an agreement to build one more link between the railway systems of the two countries. One project involves the
Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge across the
Heilongjiang (Amur) River, connecting
Tongjiang in Heilongjiang with
Nizhneleninskoye, a village in Russia's
Jewish Autonomous Oblast. The project construction began in 2014 and was estimated to be complete in 2016, however the project had been halted due to funding problems and a construction delay on the Russian side. Additional funding had been injected to the project in 2017 which resolved the funding problem, with the project then estimated to be complete in year 2018. After further delays, the project was finally completed in August 2021. Additionally, a high speed rail link between
Hunchun and
Vladivostok have been proposed and discussed.
Mongolia In October 2014, the Mongolian parliament approved two standard gauge cross-border railways to China. One line would run from the
Tavan Tolgoi coalfields of
Ömnögovi Province to the border at Gashuun Suukhait and cross into China at Ganqimaodu in
Urad Middle Banner, part of
Inner Mongolia's
Bayan Nur Municipality. In March 2013, the China Road and Bridge Corp., an engineering firm, submitted a feasibility study to the Kyrgyz government, which found the project to be too expensive. On 5 May 2014, the
Export-Import Bank of China lent Uzbekistan $350 million for the construction of a railway through the
Kamchik Pass that would connect the Fergana Valley with the rest of Uzbekistan. On 12 May 2014, China's paramount leader,
Xi Jinping, and
Turkmenistan's president,
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, signed a declaration to study the possibility of inviting Chinese companies to build a cross-border railway linking the two countries. On 22 May 2014, the Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan reportedly suggested inviting China to join in another regional railway project linking Russia, Central Asian states and the Persian Gulf.
Nepal China and Nepal signed a series of agreements including a railway link connecting
Kathmandu to China's railway network in 2018. The
China–Nepal Railway will connect Kathmandu and
Shigatse, Tibet. Survey of the
Kerung-Kathmandu section will be completed by early 2019, and construction is expected to be completed in six years. The construction is in progress as of September, 2023.
Pakistan Since 2007, Chinese and Pakistani authorities have explored the possibility of building the
Khunjerab Railway, which would cross the
Karakorum Mountains and connect Kashgar with
Havelian in the
Abbottabad District of northern Pakistan. In June 2013, the Pakistani government indicated that the proposed railway could be extended to the Port of
Gwadar on the
Arabian Sea.
India Indian and Chinese rail authorities have on several occasions expressed interest in initiating a high-speed rail link that would link
Kolkata with
Kunming, China via
Myanmar. The rail link would use the under construction railway from
Manipur, India to Myanmar and the
Dali–Ruili railway under construction in western Yunnan Province. ==Longest train journeys==