China + Vietnam to develop new railway links: China and Vietnam inked an agreement to allow China to conduct feasibility studies for two new rail links, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a cooperation document it has seen. No deadline has been disclosed for the studies, though they are set to take place within 12 months of the selection of the contractor. The new links are separate from another railway connecting Vietnam’s northern coast to China’s Kunming, which is set to begin construction this year.

Some details: The agreement concerns an old railway that connects southern China’s Guangxi region to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, as well as another line that will link the port cities of Shenzhen and Haiphong. While there’s an established railway from Nanning in Guangxi to Hanoi, passengers and cargo need to switch trains due to Vietnam’s colonial-era gauge not being compatible with China’s modern high-speed tracks.

Chinese cargo flow bears the brunt of ongoing tariffs: The volume of goods processed weekly through Chinese ports slipped 10% w-o-w and 4% y-o-y to 244 mn tons last week, Bloomberg reports, citing Chinese Transport Ministry data. The amount of handled containers also decreased during the same period, while air cargo flights increased by more than 30% for the ninth straight week.

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