A China-Europe freight train departed from Yiwu, a city in east China’s Zhejiang Province, on Monday morning, heading to Madrid, Spain. This journey marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of this route. Loaded with 110 twenty-foot containers of various goods, including accessories, automotive parts, machinery, and equipment, the train is expected to arrive in Madrid within 16 to 18 days.
Over the past decade, more than 6,700 China-Europe freight trains have departed from Yiwu, transporting over 670,000 TEUs of cargo. According to the China State Railway Group, these trains have provided significant logistical support for Yiwu, known as “the world’s supermarket,” facilitating its access to global markets.
Feng Xubin, chairman of Tianmeng Industrial Investment Co., noted a substantial transformation in the types of products transported over the past ten years. “I still remember the first China-Europe freight train carrying items like suitcases, stationery, and Christmas decorations. However, as market demands have evolved, we now transport an increasing number of high-value-added products, such as machinery and electronic equipment,” Feng said. He added that the China-Europe freight train service is attracting more customers not only from Yiwu and other parts of Zhejiang but also from surrounding regions such as the Yangtze River Delta.
Since 2014, the annual number of China-Europe freight train trips from Yiwu has soared from just 23 to over 1,100. The annual cargo value has risen from 92 million USD to 2.62 billion USD, while the variety of transported goods has expanded from around 10,000 to nearly 50,000 categories. To date, the China-Europe freight train service has connected Yiwu with more than 160 cities in 50 countries and regions across Asia and Europe.
On November 18, 2014, the first China-Europe freight train (Yiwu-Madrid) departed, establishing a fast rail route for exporting small commodities from this Chinese city to Europe.
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