Outbound cargo trains up 41 pct at Urumqi logistics center

With the departure of Italy-bound Train X9401 on Monday, trains running for Europe from freight logistics center in Urumqi reached 1,000 in 2018, up 41 percent year-on-year.

The train, leaving for Naples, carried 1,600 tonnes of ketchup manufactured in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Since its operation in 2016, the freight train logistics center in the regional capital has increased its cargo trains from one each week to three per day, with 20 westward routes to 26 cities in Central Asia and Europe.

The center has helped develop a new two-way transportation passage for the Belt and Road cooperation and drive Xinjiang's opening-up, according to the Urumqi Railway Bureau.

The cargo train hub has cooperated with 82 import and export-oriented enterprises in and outside Xinjiang, dealing with goods from more than 10 other provinces or municipalities, it added.