China-Europe train stars in new documentary

World
Europe

A new documentary takes viewers on an epic journey along the world’s longest cargo train route from Yiwu in China to Madrid in Spain.

“New Ties along the Silk Road: China-Europe Railway” is a co-production between the French-language channel of CGTN and RTS, a French-language TV channel in Switzerland.

A poster for “New Ties along the Silk Road: China-Europe Railway” /CGTN Photo

The crew spent 21 days traveling 13,000 kilometers from the county of Yiwu, a major trade hub in China's eastern Zhejiang Province, to Madrid.

The train passes China's western Xinjiang region and goes through eight countries including Kazakhstan, Russia and Germany. The film documents the lives of the local population, traders and train workers along the route, who collectively tell a story of surging economic and cultural connections.

The China-EU Express between Yiwu and Madrid was launched three years ago. In the first nine months of this year, cargo volume along the route increased by 105 percent on an annual basis.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong addresses the documentary's launching ceremony. /CGTN Photo

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Tibor Navracsics, European commissioner for education, culture, youth and sport, attended the launching ceremony for the film in Shanghai on Tuesday.

Liu said the success of the train line reflected increasingly close China-European cooperation. Relations between China and the EU are now in a golden age of development with unprecedented historic opportunities, according to the vice premier.

The two sides are finding common ground for development between the Belt and Road Initiative and European development strategies. This cooperation has yielded good results and enhanced the well-being of both the Chinese and European people, Liu said in her speech.