Number of freight trains serving China-Europe route up 50% in 2020

The number freight trains running between China and Europe grew by 50 percent to 12,400 last year, according to China State Railway Group Co Ltd.

The trains transported 1.14 million standard containers, up 56 percent on-year, to over 90 cities in more than 20 European countries.

Among the items delivered via China-Europe freight trains were 76,000 metric tons or 9.31 million pieces of epidemic prevention and control supplies.

The supplies were sent from China to Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Belgium.

The deliveries greatly enhanced international cooperation between China and Europe in epidemic control and prevention.

Among the China-Europe freight trains were a record-high 3,548 that arrived and departed from Manzhouli, China’s largest land port, up 35.1 percent on-year.

The trains that serviced the Manzhouli to Europe route carried 324,310 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers of goods that include daily necessities, electrical products, industrial machinery, metals, agricultural products, and auto parts.

Compared with sea and air transportation, the freight trains were less affected by the pandemic, ensuring smooth logistics and stable material supply between China and Europe.