Railway freight volume rises in first quarter

China's railway freight volume grew 12 percent on a yearly basis to 920 million metric tons in the first quarter of the year, data from the national railway operator showed. On average, some 168,900 carriages were loaded every day during the period, up 14.2 percent on a yearly basis, according to China State Railway Group Co Ltd. Thanks to optimized operations and an increase in the number of freight trains, the country has been able to effectively expand its freight transport capacity. The first quarter also saw 3,345 trips by China-Europe freight trains, carrying 317,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo, up 79 percent over the same period last year.

Global PC shipments up 32% to 69.9m units

The global personal computer market has recorded the strongest year-on-year growth in two decades during the first quarter of this year, according to data provided by global research and advisory firm Gartner. During the first quarter, worldwide PC shipments stood at 69.9 million units, up 32 percent on a yearly basis, the company's preliminary results showed. The Chinese PC market has experienced a particularly high year-on-year growth in the first three months of the year, with the growth rate reaching 70 percent, said the firm. Global PC giant Lenovo remained the top vendor by shipments in the first quarter this year, with its global market share reaching 25.1 percent and shipments totaling 17.55 million units.

Xinhua