KUNMING -- The China-Laos Railway has so far handled over 10 million tons of imported and exported goods since it was put into operation in December 2021, according to local authorities.

The goods were valued at about 40.77 billion yuan ($5.74 billion) in total as of Monday, customs data showed Tuesday.

Goods transported via this railway have expanded from the initial 500 varieties to more than 3,000 currently, thanks to a series of measures implemented by Kunming Customs, such as the construction of a smart port.

In the first eight months of 2024, the railway handled over 3.58 million tons of imported and exported goods, up 22.8 percent year on year.

As a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the 1,035-km China-Laos Railway connects Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, with the Laotian capital Vientiane.