China's rail freight volume down 2.8%

BEIJING - The volume of freight carried on China's railways declined 2.8 percent year on year during the January-June period as economic activities slowed, official data showed on Thursday.

Chinese railroads transported 1.94 billion tons of cargo in the first half of the year, down 55.07 million tons from the volume seen in the same period last year, according to statistics from China Railway Corporation.

The drop came as China's economic growth slid to 7.6 percent during the January-June period, the weakest first-half performance in three years.

The China Railway Corporation last month announced its plan to revamp its freight transport business, including simplifying rules and tailoring transportation to customers' needs, in a bid to better tap the logistics market.