An international cargo train of China-Laos Railway is pictured at Wangjiaying West Station in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Jan. 2, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

China's railway network transported 970 million tonnes of cargo in the first three months of 2025, up 3.1 percent year on year, the railway operator said Sunday.

Daily loading amounted to a total of 179,000 cars, an increase of 4.2 percent year on year, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

The railway network also facilitated cross-border trade in this period. Notably, China-Central Asia freight trains operated a total of 3,582 services, marking a year-on-year surge of 25.5 percent, the railway operator revealed.

The China-Laos Railway, which links Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province and the Laotian capital Vientiane, transported 1.51 million tonnes of cross-border cargo in the first quarter of 2025, up 10 percent year on year.