GUANGZHOU, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A new freight train service started operation on Tuesday, linking Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in south China's Guangdong Province, and Vorsino, Russia.

The trip of about 11,000 kilometers takes 15 days, about one third of the time by sea, while the cost is half of that by air, said Huang Pu, chief of Dongguan customs.

A launch ceremony was held at a Sino-Russia trade logistic base, which will eventually cover 241 hectares.

Trade between Guangdong and Russia is booming, with import and export volume last year standing at 37.26 billion yuan (about 5.4 billion U.S. dollars), up 2.1 percent from the previous year. Import and export volume in January and February this year was 6.37 billion yuan, up 27.2 percent.

By last year, Dongguan customs had processed 124,000 tonnes of exported cargo, of which 6,455 tonnes was sent to Russia. The cargo includes tablet PCs, mobile phones, air conditioners, lamps, automobile parts, shoes and toys.