Surpassing 90,000 Trips: China-Europe freight trains advance China’s foreign trade development

At 8:40AM on May 25, 2024, with the departure of the X8157 China-Europe freight train from Xi’an International Port to Poland’s Małaszewicze in Xi’an, capital city of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, the total number of China-Europe freight trains departed has surpassed 90,000, reaching a significant milestone. To date, these trains have transported over 8.7 million TEUs of cargoes with a value exceeding 380 billion USD.

From 2016 to 2023, the number of China-Europe freight trains increased from 1,702 to over 17,000, nearly a tenfold growth, with an average annual increase of 39.5%. The annual freight value of China-Europe freight trains increased from 8 billion USD in 2016 to 56.7 billion USD in 2023.

The range of goods carried by China-Europe freight trains has notably broadened, starting from initial shipments of IT products like laptops and printers, and extending to encompass 53 categories totaling over 50,000 varieties, including clothing, automobiles and their components, daily essentials, food, wood, furniture, chemicals, mechanical equipment, and more. Starting from 2023, a rising quantity of Chinese-produced “tech-intensive green trio” goods, including lithium-ion batteries, photovoltaic products, and new energy vehicles (NEVs), have been transported via the China-Europe freight trains, showcasing strong market demand.

China-Europe freight trains have enabled more “Made in China” products such as electronics, home appliances, and NEVs to reach Europe at faster speeds and better prices, both greatly enhancing the welfare of European consumers and opening up new trade channels for European manufacturers and traders to enter the Chinese market. In addition, the freight train service have effectively driven the external opening-up of inland cities in China. Some landlocked cities, not adjacent to the sea or borders, have relied on the freight trains and gradually emerged as pivotal hubs for international engagement.

With the service network essentially covering the entire Eurasian continent, China-Europe freight trains have reached 223 cities in 25 European countries, and connected more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries so far.

Moving forward, the freight train service will keep strengthening commercial ties between China and Eurasia, delivering solid transportation services to aid the development of China’s foreign trade and encourage high-level opening-up.