A new high-speed rail service linking Hong Kong with Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, officially launched on Sunday.
The inaugural train, G885, departed from Wuhan Station at around 16:00, embarking on a four-hour and 33-minute journey that would take it through stations in Hunan and Guangdong provinces before reaching Hong Kong's West Kowloon Terminal.
Passenger Wei Junyi expressed excitement about the new route.
"I'm here to experience our first train. I think it's very convenient and very quick to go directly to Hong Kong," she said.
With nearly 1,200 seats per train, the new high-speed rail link is poised to facilitate the flow of people and economic activities between the central region and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Hong Kong entered the high-speed rail era in 2018, when the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link opened.
China aims to expand the length of its operational high-speed rail tracks to about 60,000 kilometers by 2030, up from 48,000 kilometers at the end of 2024, data from the country's railway operator shows.
New high-speed rail linking Hong Kong with Wuhan begins service
People in the Republic of the Congo say they are looking forward to expanding cooperation with China to more fields including medicine.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is going to visit the central African country on Tuesday, as part of his four-nation tour of Africa.
Officials said that the two sides will implement some of the programs that were agreed upon at last year's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing.
Economic relations between China and the Republic of the Congo date back to the 1960s.
Over the years, China has built factories, roads and bridges that have helped transform the country's agriculture-based economy into a semi-industrialized one.
Crude oil, copper and wood have been the Republic of the Congo's major exports to China, according to global trade data.
Congolese people hope their government can work to strengthen relations with one of the country's most important partners. In addition to infrastructure, people say some of the other areas that China and the Republic of the Congo plan to develop include health, agriculture and security.
"For me I think cooperation should extend to the healthcare sector, as we know that Chinese are good at medicine," said Ragma Nganga, a university student in Brazzaville.
"Cooperation between China and Congo has been remarkable especially in infrastructure projects. Chinese have built many roads," said Josue Mifoundou, a local digital media practitioner.
In 2018, China and the Republic of the Congo signed a memorandum of understanding on projects under the Belt and Road Initiative - China's flagship infrastructure initiative that's helping link Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa to China through ports, roads and railways.
Congolese people anticipate expanded cooperation with China
