The port of Dalian is a key transport hub in China's northeast. Recently, a new logistics service there has brought more varieties of food onto people's dinner tables.

Porters at the cold storage facility of Dalian port are busy loading goods onto trucks which will then be transported via land. But their service might soon be less in demand.

Delivering from the tropical fruits of the Philippines to the deep-sea fish of Alaska, the country's first cold chain, ocean-rail combined logistics is being put into service here in Dalian, and it is in line with China's grand plan of the "belt and road initiative".

Previously, after the ships arrived, goods in the refrigerated containers could only be transported via trucks. However, the new train service allows them to be transported as far the railway network stretches.

"From the freight ships to the trains, goods no longer need to be unloaded into the transit warehouses before waiting for redistribution. The new service saves time and keeps the food fresh," Cheng Gang, section chief of China Railway Special Cargo Transportation Co., said.

"In the future, we are planning to cooperate with Russian railway companies to extend the cold-chain logistics route as far as Moscow," Qu Wei, deputy manager of Dalian Port Container Terminal Co.,said.

While more goods are expected to be shipped to Russia and Europe via the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the port of Dalian now has more to offer, thanks to the new logistics service.