Freight train to Europe departs from north China’s Shanxi Province

World
Europe

By CGTN's Hu Chao

A freight train headed for Munich, Germany, has departed from the city of Linfen in China’s northern Shanxi Province with around 1,200 tons of automobile parts and other mechanical components on board.

Linfen’s first freight train to Europe has departed for Munich. /CGTN Photo

This freight train will travel over 10,000 kilometers along the Silk Road Economic Belt through western China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland. The automotive products on board have been sold to ten global equipment production companies in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, France and Italy.

The freight train has 74 containers in total. /CGTN Photo

It will take the train over ten days to get to its final destination in Munich. It used to take over a month to transport Shanxi-manufactured products to Europe. Thanks to this new freight line, transport times and transport costs have been drastically reduced. That's helped local Chinese manufacturers compete in foreign markets.

The number of trains between China and Europe is on the rise. /CGTN Photo

The number of trains between China and Europe has increased by 158 percent since last year, with an additional 612 trains delivering goods. Experts say even more trains are expected to start delivering goods along the Silk Road Economic Belt in the near future.

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