A united logistics center for cargo transportation along the China-Russia border area was put into use on Feb 26, and is expected to reverse the previous competitive relationship between road and rail transportation to one of cooperation.

The center was jointly established by China Railway Harbin Group Co and Heilongjiang Dragon Transportation Group. This marks the first time that the two competitors carrying cargo along the border on road and rail routes have cooperated.

The block trains running between Harbin, Suifenhe and Manzhouli are scheduled to start on March 15 and make a round-trip every day, according to Zhang Shuang, manager of the Russian branch of Heilongjiang Dragon Transportation Group.

Meanwhile, the block trains delivering internet orders from Harbin to Zabaikalsk, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg will soon commence operations, although the number of departures will depend on the volume of freight.

The operation of the Sino-Russian block trains is anticipated to improve cargo transportation efficiency by 20 percent, and involve 500,000 tons of cargo in 2018.