New China-Europe rail freight service opens to Barcelona

A new rail freight service was opened Wednesday linking Northwest China's transport hub of Xi'an with Barcelona, Spain. 

The first train left the station in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, on Wednesday afternoon on the over 12,000km trip.

Freight train services linking Chinese cities with Europe are becoming increasingly popular, as commercial shipping and airline operations remain suspended or restricted due to the COVID-19 outbreak.