China Railway Express to Europe pulls into golden age

China Railway Express to Europe runs on international lines connecting China with Central Asia and Europe, forming an important channel of transportation along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. 

China Railway Corporation said more than 4,000 trains had traversed the route by May 19 and, especially, the number of returning trains had increased rapidly. 

Currently, 28 Chinese cities have 51 train services of the express to 29 cities of 11 countries in Europe. 

It takes about 13 days for the train to go from Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong province, to Minsk, capital of Belarus, connecting the Pearl River Delta, a production base of electronic and light industry products, with the consumption market in Europe. Railway transportation cuts down three quarters of the time needed for sea transportation, and reduces costs by four-fifths compared with air transportation. 

In April, railway administration departments of China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany signed an agreement on deepening cooperation on the China Railway Express to Europe, reaching broad consensus on strengthening cooperation in regard to infrastructure construction, interconnectivity, service platform construction, and customs clearance.

Since May 1, only a single waybill is needed for cargos on the express trains traveling to France and Germany.

In 2016, the number of China Railway Express to Europe leaving and entering China through Manzhouli, a land port in Northeast China, hit 1,036, up 88.24 percent year-on-year.

According to the Development Plan of China Railway Express to Europe (2016-20), the number of annual train journeys should reach about 5,000 by 2020.