The "Steel Camel Team" of the China Europe freight train injects new impetus into the development of the Eurasian continent

As the flagship project and landmark brand of jointly building the "the Belt and Road", China Europe Express has been constantly pioneering and innovating in recent years, opening up a new road for land transport and a new bridge for economic and trade cooperation in the Eurasian continent. The latest data shows that the cumulative number of China Europe freight trains has exceeded 85000, reaching 219 cities in 25 European countries, and building a safe and smooth supply chain lifeline in a turbulent world.
Day and night without rest, galloping thousands of miles. Since the successful launch of the first China Europe freight train in 2011, after more than 10 years of exploration and development, this international logistics and land transportation "golden channel" has entered a high-quality development track, injecting new impetus into the development of the Eurasian continent.
Add new routes and expand new international transportation channels
Not long ago, a China Europe train loaded with 110 TEUs of household appliances and mechanical equipment left Tuanjie Village Station in Chongqing, left the country via Khorgos Port in Xinjiang, passed Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and arrived in Istanbul, Türkiye. As a result, a new line has been added to the China Europe freight train to Turkey.
Since Türkiye and China signed a memorandum of understanding on docking the "the Belt and Road" initiative and the "Middle Corridor" plan in 2015, China and Turkey have continued to deepen practical cooperation, and the China EU regular train has become an important part of the cooperation between the two countries to jointly build the "the Belt and Road".
In November 2015, Lianyungang China Europe Express (to Türkiye) was officially put into operation. In December 2020, the first China Europe regular train "Chang'an" (Istanbul Xi'an) loaded with 42 containers will open, passing through the Baku Tbilisi Kars cross-border railway and the international transportation corridor across the Caspian Sea, and entering China through the Khorgos port. This is the first freight train for Türkiye's exports to China.
Hassan Pezuk, the former general manager of Türkiye National Railway Corporation, said that the China Europe regular train can shorten the distance of at least 2000 kilometers compared with other routes through the Caspian Sea international transport corridor, greatly improving the logistics efficiency between Asia and Europe. Compared to the nearly one month journey of the Red Sea shipping route, this route has obvious advantages, greatly enhancing the stability and efficiency of trade between Asia and Europe. For many European countries that want to export their goods to Asia, the China Europe freight train is an important choice for logistics transportation.
In early February, the China Europe freight train carrying coffee, milk powder, chocolate and other New Year goods entered the Xi'an International Port Station, marking the smooth arrival of China's first China Europe freight train from Duisburg, Germany to Xi'an, with a full domestic and international schedule for the return trip of the New Year goods. It is reported that currently, it only takes 10 days for Xi'an to travel to Duisburg, Germany, which is two days shorter than 2023 and about a week shorter than the earliest train.
Analysis has pointed out that in the context of frequent geopolitical risks such as the Red Sea crisis and the impact on global logistics and supply chains, the stabilizing role of the China Europe freight train has become more prominent. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao quoted industry insiders as saying that after the outbreak of the Red Sea crisis, the freight demand for China Europe trains has increased by 100%.

Stable and smooth, better ensuring the international supply chain

At 3 pm, SYMLOG International Freight Company located in the western suburbs of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was exceptionally busy. In the company's warehouse 2, whenever a medium-sized box truck filled with goods drives out of the warehouse gate, the next truck follows closely and loads goods into the warehouse.
SYMLOG International Freight Company is a professional freight forwarding company engaged in land freight transportation. Within the company's main warehouse of approximately 2000 square meters, over 80% of the goods come from China. "Due to the rapid growth of business volume, the company has been operating at an overload since the beginning of this year," said Bartosh Mishkevich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SYMLOG International Freight Company.
Mishkevich introduced that in January this year, the company received over 2000 commission orders, transported over 300 standard containers, and transported over 17000 e-commerce packages. The overall business volume has doubled compared to December last year. Since January this year, the company has added China's electric vehicle freight forwarding business, and in the first two months of this year, it has acted as an agent for the transportation of nearly 3000 vehicles. In addition, to cope with the rapidly increasing freight forwarding business of China Europe freight trains, the company has built a new warehouse opposite the main warehouse.
Poland is an important gateway for the China Europe freight train to enter the European Union. The Polish town of Malashevich was once an important land transfer station in Poland, but gradually declined after the 1990s. The operation of the China Europe freight train has revitalized this border town and made it an important railway logistics hub in the European Union.
At present, the China Europe freight train departing from Chengdu, China, only takes 10 days to reach Malashevich. Ukash Zayonz, Deputy Station Manager of the Marashevich Railway Freight Yard, said that the maximum freight volume was 120 TEUs per day. "To further enhance the transportation capacity, we have just completed a year and a half of modernization of the station. Currently, the freight yard within the station can accommodate over 1800 TEUs."
Swawamir Maiman, former director of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Bureau, said that in the context of the overlapping global risks and challenges, the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative is playing an increasingly important role in stabilizing and prospering the world economy. The China Europe freight train provides stable expectations for customers to organize production, logistics, and capital turnover, which can better ensure the smooth operation of the international industrial and supply chains.
Hungary has consistently ranked among the top three trading partners of China in Central and Eastern European countries in recent years. Due to its inland location, the China Europe freight train holds a particularly important position in its trade and transportation with China. At present, the China Europe freight train arrives in Budapest, Hungary through countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic, taking about 18 days. Since the end of last year, the volume of freight transportation between China and Hungary on China Europe freight trains has significantly increased.
Kisei Zoltan, Director of the Political Analysis Center at the Zazodveg Institute in Hungary, stated that in the context of frequent geopolitical risks such as the Red Sea crisis and the impact on global logistics and supply chains, the efficient operation of the China Europe freight train helps to ensure the timely and reliable delivery of important materials, further strengthening trade exchanges between Eurasian countries.
Diversified sources of goods, high-quality products entering thousands of households
This year marks the tenth year of the launch of the "Yixin Europe" China Europe freight train. In the past 10 years, the "Yixin Europe" China Europe freight train has sent 2.1 million types of Yiwu products to various regions around the world, and has also brought back 100000 types of products from over 100 countries and regions.
In addition to an increase in the number of import and export standard containers, the goods transported by freight trains are also changing. On the one hand, there are more and more high value-added goods, such as solar photovoltaic panels, automotive vehicles and spare parts, especially electronic devices such as mobile phones, which have become popular goods in freight train transportation; On the other hand, the sources of goods on the train are becoming increasingly diverse, and the radiation range is gradually expanding from Yiwu to other regions within Zhejiang Province, even Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong and other places.
The stable international railway transportation channel advantage of the Yixin Europe freight train is conducive to economic exchanges and cooperation between China and Spain. Felix Baldivieso, Director of the China Research Center at IE University in Spain, stated that the trade volume between West and China has expanded from $37.9 billion in 2020 to $48.6 billion in 2023, an increase of 28.23%. The train has significantly shortened the transportation time of goods between Europe and China, deepened the West China trade relationship, and had a significant positive impact on the import and export trade between the two countries.
Duisburg was once famous for its steel industry, and now freight trains traveling between the Eurasian continent have become the new business card of this old industrial city. The relentless "steel camel caravan" brings electronic products, clothing, shoes, hats, and daily necessities from China to Europe, as well as European chemical products, automobiles and parts, milk powder, cosmetics and other commodities to China. At present, Duisburg Port has become the most extensive, frequent, and high-value China Europe freight train node in Western Europe, with over 100 Chinese companies in logistics and e-commerce settling here. Tao Yibo, China Affairs Commissioner of the Duisburg City Government, stated that every day, freight trains from China arrive at the port of Duisburg, and then goods are transported to more than 20 major cities in Europe. "Numerous Chinese companies have brought thousands of job opportunities to Duisburg."
RTSB Group, headquartered in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, was one of the earliest European companies to operate the China Europe freight train. Wolfgang Lapert, General Manager and Sales Director of Container Freight Forwarding at the Swiss branch of the group, stated that due to the good operation of the China Europe freight train, the group's performance has achieved rapid growth in recent years, with revenue increasing from less than $400 million in 2019 to $823 million in 2022. "The cooperation with China Europe freight trains has brought tremendous development to the group, and we believe that this market will continue to grow."
The operation of the world economy cannot be separated from global freight and commodity trade. As an important carrier for China and the "the Belt and Road" to jointly build national connectivity, mutual benefit and win-win results, China Europe Express will continue to run out of the "acceleration" of development and prosperity, better help the world economy, and improve the connectivity level of Asia and Europe.