Chengdu-Tilburg freight train service marks one-year anniversary

China and the Netherlands celebrated the first anniversary of the regular freight train service between Chengdu, in Southwest China's Sichuan province, and Tilburg, a city in the south of the Netherlands, at Tilburg railway station on Sept 22.

Thanks to its proximity to Rotterdam Port, Tilburg is an important regional logistics center in Western Europe. Many cross-border enterprises have set up distribution centers in the city.

The Chengdu-Tilburg freight train service, which saw a total of 201 freight train trips between the two cities in the first year, is one of the busiest freight routes between China and Europe, said Chen Zejun, general-manager of Chengdu International Train Co., Ltd.

The line is 10,947 kilometers long, passing through China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, and takes about 15 days, transporting mainly electronic equipment and aviation products from Chengdu to Tilburg, and auto parts, formula powder and finished cars in the other direction."The freight train service has strengthened economic and trade cooperation between China and the countries along the routes, especially Chengdu and the Netherlands," Chen said.

Zhu Hexin, vice-governor of Sichuan, said the freight train service is promoting economic and trade cooperation between Sichuan and the countries along the routes, especially the Netherlands, injecting new vitality to bilateral cooperation.

Sichuan is building a pilot cross-border e-commerce zone, with Chengdu as the center. This further boosts cooperation on innovation of logistics services between China and European countries, especially the Netherlands, Zhu said.

Last year, the total trade volume between China and the Netherlands was $67.2 billion. By the end of last year, China had invested more than €7 billion ($8.23 billion) in nearly 600 projects in the Netherlands, creating about 10,ooo local jobs; the Netherlands has invested $16 billion, ranking 3rd among European Union members, in 3,188 projects in China. Dutch strength in agriculture, gardening, water treatment, bio-science and health, chemical, clean energy and environmental technologies, as well as material science, logistics and creative industries, is seen as having great development potential in cooperation with China.