The development of China's railway industry has helped turn a county into a huge city. And the place is Zhengzhou, the capital of the central province of Henan. 

From a small agricultural village to the heart of manufacturing in China, as well as a key distribution center for imports, central China's Zhengzhou City was only a small county seat a century ago.

Helped by its location along the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line, it later became the capital of Henan Province. Today, many Chinese electronic devices start their journey to Europe from this city.

"Our customers give high priority to the timeliness of cargo delivery. The road to a large extent has made it an easier task to send phones to our customers – merely two to three days," Feng Min, General Manager of Henan Super Grand Electronic Technology said.

About 400,000 mobile phones are produced in Henan Super Grand Electronic Technology every month and transported out of China by the tonne.

Many of those are loaded onto the China-Europe Freight train, go through customs at the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region before moving on to Hamburg in Germany. On the way back, the train carries German automobile products to Zhengzhou.  

In addition to high-end products going back and forth, the items have expanded to include clothes, grain, and even wine over the years.  

"In 2013, the trains made one round trip every week. Now they make eight," said Shi Fenghua, vice manager of Zhengzhou Railway Container Terminal.

The trade route has become much busier over the years. In 2018, more than 6,000 trips were made along the China-Europe line with goods worth $16 billion. Back in 2011, when the project first launched, it was more like $600 million. 

As you can see, the China-Europe Freight trains service capacity has increased since China's 13th Five-Year Plan. 

"Relying on the high-speed railway line, it lays a solid foundation for a modern global system. It also provides a guarantee for the completion of the 13th Five-Year Plan and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects," according to Wang Ming, director of Institute of Comprehensive Transportation, National Development and Reform Commission.

Zhengzhou is not the only Chinese hub with a route to Europe. So far, 20 cities have begun services, reaching 57 cities in 18 countries, and the capacity of these is growing every year.

Zhengzhou is also implementing a three-dimensional traffic system and modern logistics system. The city hopes to become a link to all regions of China and bring more cross-border trade to the area.