China's Yiwu boosts int'l trade with increasing rail freight to Europe

A freight train heading for Yiwu of China departs from Madrid, Spain, on March 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)

HANGZHOU, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of import and export containers delivered by freight trains connecting Europe with Yiwu, a small commodity production hub in east China's Zhejiang Province, has surpassed 188,000 twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) containers, according to local customs.

It surpassed 2022 in terms of volume, supplying more high-value products such as solar photovoltaic panels, complete vehicles and spare parts for automobiles, and electronic devices.

The sources of freight for the Yixin'ou (Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe) cargo line train service are also becoming more diverse, and coverage has expanded from Yiwu to Zhejiang as well as other surrounding regions, including Shanghai, Fujian, and Guangdong.

During the first 11 months of the year, the import and export of goods via the Yixin'ou cargo line amounted to 45.46 billion yuan (about 6.4 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year growth of 14.3 percent.

To date, Yixin'ou has initiated 25 routes, spanning 160 cities in over 50 countries and regions, since its first operation in November 2014.