From the ancient city of Xi’an in China to the important land transfer station of Malaszewicz in Poland, from the central Chinese city of Wuhan to the German port city of Duisburg… After more than ten years of development, the China Europe freight train has operated over 90000 trains, and by 2024, it has already operated over 10000 trains. This “iron and steel caravan” has an important impact on transportation and logistics in Eurasia, promoted economic and trade development along the line, and injected more impetus into the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” by all countries.
On May 15th, the container yard of the freight workshop at Manzhouli Station of China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd. was carrying out a replacement operation for the China Europe freight train. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Huang Xu)
Connecting East West Channels to Boost Asia Europe Trade
As the flagship project and landmark brand of the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road”, China Europe Express has become a popular international public product since its opening. After more than a decade of development, the China Europe freight train has played an increasingly significant role in facilitating mutual exchange and benefit between China and relevant countries.
As of now, the China Europe freight train has reached 224 cities in 25 European countries and connected over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, with a service network covering the entire Eurasian region. There are 91 planned China Europe freight train operating lines with a speed of 120 kilometers per hour in China, connecting 61 cities within the country. The China Europe freight trains transport over 50000 types of goods in 53 major categories, with a stable comprehensive heavy container rate of 100%.
On July 12th, the inbound China Europe freight train underwent container exchange at the Suifenhe Station Container Exchange Yard of China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd. (drone photo). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Qu Yiwei)
By enriching the land logistics network between Asia and Europe, the China Europe freight train further enhances the advantages of multimodal trade and integration of land and sea transportation channels between Asia and Europe, continuously expanding channel capacity, providing strong collaborative driving force for freight transportation between Asia and Europe, supplemented by a large and diverse network of routes and cities, creating extensive logistics connections for trade between Asia and Europe. The trans Caspian and Black Sea China Europe trains from Yiwu, Urumqi and other places to Istanbul, Türkiye, Salerno, Italy and other places have been running in succession, and the overseas channel network pattern of “smooth and efficient, multi-directional extension, and sea land connectivity” has become increasingly mature.
With the rapid development of the China Europe freight train, the geographical boundaries and coverage of China Europe trade have further enriched, and the forms of freight transportation have become more diverse, promoting the flow of more goods between relevant countries.
The China Europe freight train has built a communication bridge between hundreds of cities in China and related countries, not only promoting the development of China Europe trade and regional economic cooperation, but also facilitating cultural, educational, and personnel exchanges between Asia and Europe. Zahariev, President of the Bulgarian National Federation of the “the Belt and Road”, said that the China Europe Train provides an important logistics channel for Asia Europe trade, and promotes trade development, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and Europe and countries along the line.
Strengthening Asia Europe logistics to promote economic development along the route
The development of China Europe freight trains has brought regularity and stability to logistics along the route, providing a stable, reliable, and more flexible transportation route for trade between Asia and Europe in uncertain factors such as the Red Sea crisis.
At the same time, the China Europe freight train has cost advantages compared to air freight and time advantages compared to sea freight, providing a more convenient trade channel for the Asia Europe freight network and making the transportation and logistics industries between China and Europe and countries along the route more flexible.
At present, the advantages of the China Europe freight train are obvious, and the demand is relatively high. Although it is difficult to predict the long-term trend of ocean freight prices, overall, given the current international situation, railway transportation is expected to grow significantly, and China Europe freight train services will continue to grow and play an indispensable role.
The China Europe freight train is traveling on the Dabancheng Wetland in Urumqi (pictured on October 6, 2023). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Shuifeng Liang)
Ria Future Logistics Company in Poland has been engaged in the China Europe freight train business for nearly ten years. The company’s general manager, Pavel Moscara, told Xinhua News Agency that since the outbreak of the Red Sea crisis, maritime transportation between China and Europe has been severely affected, and routes have had to detour around the African continent, adding about ten days of travel and increasing costs. In this situation, the China Europe freight train has to some extent stabilized China Europe trade, benefiting a large number of enterprises.
The China Europe freight train has accelerated the cross-border flow of production resources, promoted economic prosperity in ports and hub areas, provided new opportunities for inland cities along the route to open up to the outside world, enabled enterprises to conduct trade along more interconnected and cost-effective transportation routes, promoted increased industrial investment and development in countries along the route, organized production and supply chains more effectively, and promoted cross-border cooperation between regions.
The business opportunities are expanding and expanding, and foreign trade is stable and strong
China and Europe are each other’s second largest trading partners. Currently, over a quarter of China Europe trade products are high-tech products, and trade in green products such as lithium batteries, new energy vehicles, and photovoltaic modules is growing rapidly. The China Europe freight train not only provides business opportunities for related enterprises, but also benefits the people along the route, and its influence in international freight transportation is growing day by day, making continuous contributions to promoting the development of China Europe trade.
On May 8th, in Madrid, Spain, the China Europe Express (Yiwu Madrid) launched its 10th anniversary commemorative train and is preparing to depart. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Gustavo Balente)
In recent years, the China Europe freight train has developed rapidly and become an important land logistics channel between China, Europe, and countries along the route. The operation of China Europe freight trains maintains a strong growth trend, with a wider variety of goods. Since 2023, the “new three types” of electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products have become new growth points for the transportation volume of China Europe freight trains.
In the process of development, the China Europe freight train has continuously increased the number of routes, improved transportation efficiency, expanded service scope, and optimized the structure of import and export commodities. This reflects that in the context of global geopolitical uncertainty, China’s foreign trade remains stable and has strong resilience. As an “iron and steel caravan” to ensure the stability and security of the global supply chain, the China EU regular train will further promote regional economic cooperation and inject more development impetus into the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” cooperation. (Written by Lin Hao; Participating reporters: Zhang Zhang, Tang Sining, Fan Xi, Zhang Bowen)