China-Europe freight train trips reach 10,000 in 2023

A freight train departs from Yiwu West Railway Station in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 9, 2023.(Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

HANGZHOU, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A China-Europe freight train departed from the city of Yiwu in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday morning for Madrid, Spain, marking the 10,000th trip of China-Europe freight trains this year.

Loaded with 110 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of various goods such as accessories, automotive parts, electric bicycles, and photovoltaic modules, the train will pass through the Alataw Pass in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and is expected to arrive in Madrid in approximately 21 days.

China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway) said that the number of 10,000 trips of China-Europe freight train this year was achieved 22 days earlier than last year.

Those trains have transported over 1.08 million TEUs of goods this year, up 27 percent over a year ago.

China Railway attributed the achievement to the strong demand for cross-border goods transportation in the post-pandemic era and the advantages of the China-Europe freight trains, including its all-weather operation, large capacity, environmentally friendly and low carbon footprint, as well as smooth and secure services.