E. China's Yiwu runs over 5,000 China-Europe freight trains by far

A freight train carrying 100 TEUs of goods departs from Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, for Minsk in Belarus, Oct. 21, 2020, marking the 1,000th trip by China-Europe cargo trains in the province this year. (Photo by Gong Xianming/Xinhua)

A China-Europe freight train loaded with 100 TEUs of goods departed from Yiwu, China's small commodity hub in east China's Zhejiang Province on January 5, was bound for five Central Asian countries on Thursday, reported Chinanews.com.

Since its inception in 2013, Yixinou, the "Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe" freight train connecting Yiwu, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Europe has operated 5,024 freight trains from Yiwu, with the transported cargo exceeding 416,000 TEUs.

Up to now, the goods originated within Zhejiang Province transported by Yixinou freight trains have increased from 20 percent to 64 percent, of which Yiwu market accounts for nearly 45 percent of the total. At the same time, the variety of transported goods was also expanded to new energy vehicles (NEVs) and parts, mechanical equipment, mobile phones and other high value products.

Customs data showed that the trade volume of import and export goods of the Yixinou freight train surged from 586 million yuan in 2014 to over 30 billion yuan in 2022, with a year-on-year growth rate of up to 62 percent.

By far, the freight train has reached 101 stations in over 160 cities across more than 50 countries and regions in the world.

More China-Europe freight train routes are expected to be opened in Yiwu, further contributing to the stability of the international supply chain, said the operator of Yixinou freight train.