Releasing positive signals for foreign trade, the China Europe freight train has reached 10000 trains this year. July 29th at 10:18 | Wei Yijun | Train | China Europe

Hangzhou, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The China Europe freight train has reached 10000 trains this year, releasing positive signals for foreign trade

Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Yijun

At 10:18 am on July 29th, the X8020 China Europe freight train departed from Yiwu West Station, honking its horn and heading to Madrid, Spain, marking that the cumulative number of China Europe freight trains operating this year has reached 10000, sending 1.083 million TEUs of goods, a year-on-year increase of 27%.

Industry insiders believe that in the current complex and severe external environment, with the direct impact of weakened external demand on China's foreign trade still continuing, the stable growth of the number of China Europe freight trains and shipments has released positive signals for foreign trade, demonstrating the strong resilience of China's economy from one side.

The picture shows the 10000th China Europe freight train departing from Yiwu West Station with its whistle. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Yijun

The number of train services steadily increases

The 10000th China Europe freight train this year contains 110 TEUs of goods, including small commodities, automotive parts, photovoltaic modules, etc. This is a microcosm of the increasing categories and value of goods in China Europe freight trains in recent years, and the growth trend of high value-added and high-tech products.

Since March 2011, China's first China Europe freight train departed from the central station of Tuanjie Village in Chongqing. As of the first half of this year, the cumulative number of China Europe freight trains in operation has exceeded 73000 over the years, sending 6.9 million TEUs of goods. More than 100 domestic departure cities connect to 216 cities in 25 European countries, and the China Europe freight train injects a continuous stream of vitality into world economic and trade exchanges.

"The transportation goods of the 'Yixin Europe' China Europe freight train starting from Yiwu have transformed from small commodities, hardware and electrical appliances, mechanical equipment to automotive parts, photovoltaic products, smart home appliances, new energy vehicles, etc. The import and export value of the 'Yixin Europe' China Europe freight train supervised by Yiwu Customs has increased for 9 consecutive years, reaching 18.42 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 19.5%." said Ye Qiuran, Vice President of Operations of Yiwu Tianmeng Industrial Investment Co., Ltd., the operator of the freight train.

Strong demand for cross-border goods transportation

The person in charge of the freight department of China Railway Group introduced that after the smooth transition of epidemic prevention and control, China's foreign trade imports and exports have improved steadily, and there is a strong demand for cross-border freight transportation. The China Europe freight train has advantages such as all-weather, large capacity, green and low-carbon, smooth and safe transportation, and is favored by customers along the route.

"Geely's freight stations near manufacturing bases in Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, and other areas are shipping complete vehicles to major markets through the China Europe freight train. Since the beginning of this year, the number of shipments has steadily increased year-on-year." Lin Yongming, the international logistics manager of Zhejiang Jisu Logistics Co., Ltd., said that it is expected that the demand in the target market will be further released in the second half of the year, and the company will continue to make good use of the China Europe freight train as a stable transportation channel.

To ensure the stable and smooth operation of the China Europe freight train, China Railway Group continues to strengthen the construction of transportation capacity and has completed a number of railway port and rear railway channel gap filling projects. For example, the construction of an international freight yard at Manzhouli Port has been put into use, and the daily loading capacity of China Europe freight trains has been increased from 420 TEUs to 840 TEUs. At the same time, we will strengthen the construction of hub nodes for China Europe freight trains and actively explore the development of routes for China Europe freight trains to cross the Black Sea and the South China Sea, striving to create a transportation service network that extends in multiple directions and connects land and sea.

The transportation efficiency of China Europe freight trains has significant advantages compared to sea freight. The railway department optimizes the transportation organization of China Europe freight trains, flexibly adjusts operational processes, strengthens equipment, facilities, and personnel, and prioritizes the transportation, loading, and loading of China Europe freight trains. The newly added two-way routes from Chengdu to Lodz, Poland and the return route from Duisburg to Xi'an in Germany have a full time schedule for China Europe freight trains, and their operating time has been compressed by more than 5 days.

"At present, the transportation service network of China Europe freight trains basically covers the entire Eurasian continent, effectively expanding economic and trade exchanges between China and countries along the route, deepening international production capacity cooperation, accelerating cross-border flow of factor resources, and the radiating driving effect is becoming increasingly prominent." The head of China Railway Group's freight department said that since the beginning of this year, heavy machinery accounts for more than 97% of the goods of China Europe freight trains departing from Liuzhou, Guangxi, helping to continuously improve the international competitiveness of "Made in Guangxi".

On April 23rd, the China Europe Express Chang'an Geely Automobile Export Special Train departed from Xi'an International Port Station. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo

Taking multiple measures to ensure stability and smoothness

In the first half of this year, China's total import and export value of goods trade reached 20.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%, and the scale exceeded 20 trillion yuan for the first time in history during the same period. Among them, China's total imports and exports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" increased 9.8% year on year, significantly higher than the overall growth rate; The total export of "new three types" products such as electric passenger cars, lithium batteries, and solar cells increased by 61.6%, driving China's overall export growth by 1.8 percentage points and becoming a new export engine.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the the Belt and Road Initiative. Ni Yueju, a researcher at the Institute of World Economy and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that this year, China Europe Express has opened up to 10000 trains, which shows that in the context of sluggish international trade growth, China's trade growth with countries along the "the Belt and Road" is still strong, and economic and trade relations through China Europe Express are increasingly close and resilient. At the same time, it also reflects the upgrading of trade structure between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road". Although the cost of shipping is higher than that of shipping, China EU Banlieu is welcomed by enterprises producing high-value products because of its timeliness advantage.

"We should adhere to the principle of joint consultation, joint construction and sharing, and ensure the stability and smooth flow of China EU trains." The head of the freight department of China Railway Group said that in the next step, China Railway Group will strengthen international railway cooperation, closely connect with cross-border freight transport demand, and make greater contributions to ensuring the stability of the industrial chain supply chain, the new development pattern of services, and the high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road".