Chongqing, Chengdu record 20,000 China-Europe freight train trips

Aerial photo taken on June 30, 2022 shows a China-Europe freight train ready for departure at the Tuanjiecun station in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

CHONGQING/CHENGDU, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Two cargo trains loaded with goods departed on Thursday from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Chengdu, capital of the neighboring Sichuan Province, for Germany's Duisburg and Poland's Lodz.

It marked that the number of China-Europe freight trains handled by the two cities has topped 20,000 since Chongqing and Chengdu launched the service in March 2011 and April 2013, respectively, according to local authorities.

More than 1,000 kinds of goods, including electronics, machinery, automobiles, auto parts, as well as medicines and medical instruments, have been transported via the service.

In 2021 alone, Chongqing and Chengdu handled over 4,800 China-Europe cargo trains, accounting for 30 percent of the national total, with the transported goods worth over 200 billion yuan (about 29.8 billion U.S. dollars).

Chongqing and Chengdu are among the earliest cities in China to start the China-Europe freight train service. As a significant measure in constructing the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the two cities have cooperated since 2021 to improve the service.

The Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is another important regional development strategy, following the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.