China's backwoods open to the Belt and Road

LANZHOU - Northwest China's Gansu province is boosting its foreign trade and international industrial cooperation via the Belt and Road.

A rail-sea cargo transit route now links Lanzhou, the provincial capital, with Singapore.

Lanzhou was connected to the route in September last year with the opening of a railway linking the city with Chongqing in southwest China.

So far, six trains have carried a total 5,500 tons of goods from Lanzhou.

Gansu will also open a rail/highway route between Lanzhou and Gwadar Port in Pakistan this year.

Last year, trade between the province and countries along the Belt and Road reached 13.5 billion yuan ($2.1 billion), up 32 percent.

The province has 33 industrial cooperation projects with 16 countries along the maritime and land Silk Road routes.