Loaded with over 980 tons of goods, a China-Europe freight train departed from Shanghai for Almaty City in Kazakhstan, marking the first China-Europe freight train run from Shanghai to Central Asia on July 28. Due to the COVID-19 resurgence in parts of China earlier this year, Shanghai temporarily suspended its China-Europe freight train service, which resumed in May in the face of strong demand from foreign trade enterprises.

In the first half of this year, Shanghai handled 12 China-Europe freight train departures loaded with 1,166 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit), weighing over 7,234 tons and with a total value of 293 million yuan ($43.5 million). Shanghai launched its maiden China-Europe freight train run in September 2021. Currently, the city operates nine China-Europe freight train routes reaching 13 cities in five countries on the Belt and Road routes.