Since the first China-Europe freight train started from southwest China's Chongqing in March 2011, data showed that the service has connected 180 cities in 23 European countries with China.

The China-Europe trains have made more than 50,000 trips as of Saturday, and the cargo has exceeded 4.55 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) with a value of $240 billion, according to data from the China State Railway Group.

The value of goods transported by the cargo service surged from $8 billion in 2016 to $74.9 billion in 2021, a more than ninefold increase, according to the company.

The China-Europe freight trains have served as a crucial part of the Belt and Road Initiative, transporting more than 50,000 types of goods including IT products, automobiles and parts, chemicals, and mechanical and electronic products. They made a total of 15,000 trips in 2021, a 22-percent year-on-year increase.

Rail transportation has proved efficient in keeping the supply chains running during the pandemic. It takes as short as 12 days for goods to get to Europe from China through the freight train service, significantly faster than shipping.

The freight train service also provided a lifeline for the distribution of anti-virus materials. Official data shows that since the pandemic began, over 100,000 tonnes of anti-pandemic supplies have been transported by freight trains to European countries including Germany, Poland and Belgium.

The total imports and exports between China and the European Union gained by 27.5 percent in 2021 to reach $828.11 billion, according to China Customs. China remains the EU's largest trading partner, while the EU was China's second largest trading partner.

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(With input from Xinhua)