First China-Europe freight train service with streamlined customs clearance starting service in N.China Hebei

Aerial photo taken on April 17, 2021 shows a freighttrainbound for Hamburg, Germany departing from the Shijiazhuang international land port in north China's HebeiProvince. (Photo by Zhang Xiaofeng/Xinhua)

A China-Europe freight train loaded with more than 900 tonnes of auto parts, numerically-controlled machine tools, and daily necessities recently departed from Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, after passing through the Manzhouli port in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of northern China, according to the Shijiazhuang Customs District.

As the first train in Hebei applying with streamlined customs clearance procedure, it will save about 20 hours of customs clearance than before, shorten the entire running time by 1.5 days, and save about 200 yuan in logistics costs for each cargo container, according to the train operator.

The express customs clearance mode, which is jointly undertaken by local customs, railway department and enterprises, will further improve the reliable and efficient operation of the cargo trains, and is also an important measure for Shijiazhuang Customs District to respond to the call of the General Administration of Customs (GAC) of China to optimize international railway freight.

Official data show that since 2022, Shijiazhuang Customs has witnessed the operation of a total of 158 China-Europe freight trains as of June 15, an increase of 114 percent over the same period last year, further injecting impetus into the foreign trade in Hebei Province.