The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a key logistics network linking China's western regions to global markets, has transported over 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo this year as of Thursday, a record high, according to China Railway Nanning Group.

Cargo volume along the corridor totaled 1,001,455 TEUs as of Thursday, up 72.5 percent year on year and marking the first time that annual freight volume has exceeded 1 million TEUs since the corridor began operations in 2017.

As an important project under the Belt and Road Initiative, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor plays a vital role in driving socio-economic development in the country's western regions and supporting their opening to global markets.

Railway operators are expanding train services along the corridor, with 24 fixed routes now in operation. Fourteen of them link Beibu Gulf Port in Guangxi and Zhanjiang Port in neighboring Guangdong to major inland hubs in western China, including Chongqing and Chengdu.

Since its launch in 2017, the corridor has handled 4.7 million TEUs of cargo, with volumes growing at double-digit rates each year, official data show.

Goods moved through its rail-sea intermodal services include electronics, vehicles and auto parts, machinery, household appliances and food.