HANOI, Dec. 12 - Passenger trains between Vietnam and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China will begin regular daily service starting on Jan. 1, China's railway authorities said on Thursday.

Daily trains will leave Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, at 6:15 p.m. and arrive in Hanoi at 7 a.m. the following day. Trains will also depart Hanoi at 8:30 p.m, reaching Nanning at 10:05 a.m. the next day.

The trains will be operated by the Nanning Railway Bureau, said Chen Boshi, the bureau's director, who also told Xinhua that the regular passenger route would alleviate high demand from Vietnam's businessmen, laborers and students in Guangxi.

Nov. 19 - Vietnam has opened a floating port on its continental shelf, off the central province of Binh Thuan, to export crude oil from Lot 15-1 of the Su Tu Vang oilfield.

The port has a capacity for ships of up to 150,000 DWT. The safe area between the floating port of the Su Tu Vang oilfield and other works is two nautical miles beginnning from the far edge of the works or the anchoring spot of floating means, reports the Nahn Dan News.

Oct. 16 - Vietnam has begun construction of the Cai Mep-Thi Vai International Port Complex located in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Once completed, the port complex will be equipped with a container port section, in addition to two berths with a capacity of 80,000-DWT container ships and a total handling capacity of 700,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEU) annually.

The general goods port section will have two berths that can handle 50,000 DWT ships and accomodate 1.6 to 2 million tons of cargo per year.

Sept. 23 - Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) has proposed changes to the new import licensing system that could limit the categories of imports that need to be registered and reduce trade deficit.

The current system,which took effect on Aug. 21, has been costing importers millions of dong.

Currently, all import license applications are processed at MIT’s Department of Documents in Hanoi.

The new import licensing regulation requires companies to obtain licenses to import items such as automobiles, motorbikes, machines, mobile phones, fruit, coffee, tea, cooking oil, meat, sugar, cocoa, vegetables and specific products made from iron, steel and aluminum.

Sept. 23 - Vietnam's Transport Ministry has approved a VND1.49 trillion (US$87.6 million) bridge project that will connect the Mekong Delta provinces of Tien Giang and Long An.

The 1,390 meter My Loi bridge will span over the Soai Rap river and will be built on the National Highway route.

Construction is set to begin in 2009 and finish within 30 months. Once completed, it will allow ships of up to 10,000 tonnes to enter the Soai Rap river.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug.8 - Shipping lines based in Ho Chi Minh City will start charging additional fees on backlog freight, ranging from US$50 to US$100 per ton due to delays at ports.

Recently, Japanese company Mitsui O.S.K Lines announced that it would charge an extra fee on exports shipped from Vietnam to the US and Canada beginning September 1.