Chinese mainland official Song Tao on Saturday stressed advancing cross-Strait ties and opposing "Taiwan independence" during a meeting with a delegation led by Taiwan region Taitung County head Rao Ching-ling in Beijing.
Song, director of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told Rao that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family and should remain close and united.
The mainland will safeguard and promote the well-being of compatriots on both sides and continue advancing the peaceful and integrated development of cross-Strait relations, he added.
At the same time, Song emphasized the importance of adhering to the 1992 Consensus, opposing "Taiwan independence" and working together for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Rao expressed gratitude for the mainland's decision to resume and expand shipments of sugar apples from Taitung. She said that cross-Strait exchanges, based on upholding the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence," would promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties and benefit compatriots on both sides of the Strait.
Mainland official stresses promoting cross-Strait ties in meeting Taitung County head
Three freight trains with a speed of 120 kilometers per hour respectively departed from three Chinese cities on Monday, marking the country's official launch of cargo express trains.
One of the expresses departed from Langfang City in north China's Hebei Province with 43 containers, and is going to arrive in Changping Station in south China's Guangdong Province in over 30 hours.
"The route between (Hebei Province's) Guangyang District to (Guangdong Province's) Changping Town stretches 1,750 kilometers. The maximum speed of the train can reach 120 kilometers per hour. We set the price close to that of the road transportation, which is roughly the same," said Zhang Wansheng, deputy director of China Railway Beijing Group's freight transport department.
The cargo express trains mainly travel between economically developed areas, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
There will be six lines, with all of them using container marshaling.
Clients are able to check the price and available spots of the containers online, and make bookings based on their needs.
"After we book the spot for containers, a fleet of trucks is dispatched to load goods directly at our location. Let's calculate the costs, it saves us about 15 percent in transportation cost," said Hou Bin, a person in charge of a logistics enterprise in Shanghai.
China launches cost-effective cargo express trains
