Auto & Transportation

Recently, China's first China-Europe freight train line, the China-Europe freight train (Chongqing), has exceeded 10,000 lines, which means that China-Europe freight trains have become an important bridge for the development of cooperation between China and Europe, marking the high-quality joint construction of China-Europe freight trains. New progress has been made in the Belt and Road Initiative and ensuring the stability and smoothness of the international supply chain.

According to the latest data from China National Railway Group Co., Ltd., from January to July this year, China-Europe trains operated 8,990 trains and sent 869,000 TEUs of goods, an increase of 3% and 4% year-on-year respectively. In July, 1,517 trains were opened and 149,000 TEUs of goods were sent, an increase of 11% and 12% year-on-year respectively, both hitting record highs.

The person in charge of the freight department of China Railway Group introduced that in order to consolidate and improve the good development trend of China-Europe freight trains, China Railway Group has implemented the requirements of the central deployment since the beginning of this year to ensure the international industrial chain with convenient, fast, safe, stable and green economic cross-border logistics services. The smooth supply chain provides strong support for the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road". At present, the China Railway Express has reached 200 cities in 24 European countries.

The "circle of friends" of China-Europe freight trains is getting bigger and bigger, and it is inseparable from smooth international cooperation. The railway department has been focusing on promoting the diversification of overseas channels and opening up new transportation channels and routes. This year, the new railway-sea combined transport route from Xi'an, Chongqing and other cities to Constanta, Romania via the "two seas" channel has been opened, which has expanded the radiation range of China-Europe freight trains and promoted the formation of "smooth and efficient, multi-directional extension, sea-land interconnection" overseas channels Network structure, expand and increase access to 1 country and 20 cities.

The China-Europe freight train has a long route and many countries, so all aspects of hardware and software need to be strengthened. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen infrastructure construction and improve the hardware level. The railway department has accelerated the expansion and reconstruction projects of ports such as Alashankou, Horgos, and Manzhouli, as well as the rear passages, to effectively improve the transportation capacity of each port. At the same time, actively coordinate with overseas railways to simultaneously improve the infrastructure capabilities such as ports, and achieve steady improvement in domestic and overseas channel capabilities. From January to July this year, the average daily volume of China-Europe freight trains in the west, middle and east passages increased by 18.3%, 17.7% and 36.5% respectively compared with 2020 before the capacity expansion and reconstruction.

On the other hand, it is necessary to optimize cross-border transportation organization and improve service quality. The railway department will make overall use of the capacity of the west, middle and east corridors, rationally arrange the operation plan, promote the connection of the China-Europe freight train with the new western land-sea corridor and the China-Laos railway, make full use of the port handover capacity, and continue to improve the transportation capacity and efficiency of the China-Europe freight train. Expand the international full-service logistics business, develop new overseas sources of goods, optimize overseas container management, encrypt the frequency of return trains, and promote balanced transportation of two-way sources of goods. At present, the ratio of return trains to outbound trains of China-Europe trains has reached 88%, and the round-trip comprehensive heavy container rate has remained above 98% from last year to this year.

In addition to the China-Europe train, the growth rate of the new western land-sea corridor is also very gratifying. In the first seven months, the rail-sea combined transport train transported a total of 439,500 TEUs of goods, an increase of 28.14% year-on-year, which effectively guaranteed the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain in the areas along the new corridor. The person in charge of the freight department of the China Railway Group said that in the next step, the China Railway Group will effectively play the role of the China-Europe Railway Express as a strategic channel, strengthen infrastructure construction, strengthen international cooperation, optimize the transportation organization, and improve the quality and efficiency of the train operation, so as to facilitate the smooth flow of domestic and international trains. It has made positive contributions to promoting the stable and healthy development of the economy and society.