China's small commodity hub celebrates decade of China-Europe freight train expansion

YIWU, Zhejiang, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A China-Europe freight train departed from the city of Yiwu in east China's Zhejiang Province on Monday morning heading for Madrid, Spain, marking the 10th anniversary of the launch of this route.

Loaded with 110 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of various goods including accessories, automotive parts, machinery and equipment, the train is expected to arrive in Madrid within 16 to 18 days.

Over the past decade, more than 6,700 China-Europe freight trains have set off from Yiwu, transporting over 670,000 TEUs of cargo. These trains have provided vital logistical support for the city, which is known as "the world's supermarket," facilitating its access to global markets, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

"As the world's largest small commodity market, Yiwu exports a substantial number of containerized goods overseas every day. In the past, we primarily relied on sea freight," said Feng Xubin, chairman of the freight train service operator Yiwu Tianmeng Industrial Investment Co., Ltd.

Feng noted that over the past ten years, the composition of the goods transported by these trains has undergone a significant upgrade.

"I still remember the first China-Europe freight train carrying items such as suitcases, stationery and Christmas decorations. However, as market demands have evolved, we now ship a growing number of high-value-added products, including various types of machinery and electronic equipment," Feng said.

In addition to traders based in Yiwu and other parts of Zhejiang, the China-Europe freight train service is also attracting an increasing number of customers from surrounding regions, such as the Yangtze River Delta, Feng added.

From 2014 until now, the annual number of China-Europe freight train trips from Yiwu has soared from just 23 to over 1,100. Annual cargo value has risen from 92 million U.S. dollars to 2.62 billion U.S. dollars, while the variety of transported goods has expanded from about 10,000 to nearly 50,000 categories.

To date, the China-Europe freight train service has connected Yiwu with more than 160 cities in 50 countries and regions across Asia and Europe.

On Nov. 18, 2014, the first China-Europe freight train (Yiwu-Madrid) departed, opening a fast rail route for small commodity exports from this Chinese city to Europe.