LA cargo flight brings fresh imports to Harbin

A cargo flight heading from Los Angeles to Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province successfully touched down around 02:30 at Harbin Taiping International Airport on March 13, following a 10-hour journey.

The aircraft was carrying 50 types of goods purchased on e-commerce platforms, including healthcare and cookware products.

It is the first scheduled weekly cargo flight to link Heilongjiang with North America, serving the booming trade between China and United States.

The Manhattan Multi-element Group, a Harbin-based service provider to the energy, real estate and finance sectors, has organized the new cargo service to meet the growing demands for airfreight services between the two countries.

The flight was operated using a Boeing 777-200F, operated by China Southern Airlines. The special freighter aircraft is capable of carrying more than 100 tons of cargo each flight.

Initially, the service will mainly bring imported goods such as household supplies into China.

Cookware imported from the United States pictured in Harbin following a Harbin-Los Angeles cargo flight. [Photo/MY399.COM]

From the time of a customer placing an order to delivery, the whole process will now take only three to seven days.

Handling goods through the cargo flight service is much faster and cheaper than traditional methods of buying imported products, said a manager from Manhattan Multi-element Group.

For example, Abbott's type 1 infant formula costs only 245 yuan ($36.49), cheaper than the prices listed on the majority of domestic cross-border e-commerce platforms.

In the future, there are plans to expand the service to bring in fresh fruit, vegetables and sea food to the city.

From around May 1 this year, Harbin residents will have access to imported American cherries and salmon at up to 30 percent off normal prices.

Harbin, neighboring Russia and the Korean Peninsula, aims to develop itself into an international transportation hub by taking advantage of its strategic geographic location. With good air and rail connections to Russia, Harbin is expected to play an important role in regional cross-border transportation, and with the opening of the new Los Angeles cargo service, Harbin is truly going global.

Harbin Taiping International Airport [Photo/chinanews.com]