In the midst of summer, the Shijiazhuang International Land Port located in Gaoyi County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, is bustling with activity. The gantry cranes are constantly lifting and lowering, and trucks are shuttling back and forth. Colorful containers are stacked layer by layer like building blocks, and the whistle of the China Europe freight train echoes one after another.

Data shows that from January to July this year, Shijiazhuang International Land Port shipped a total of 63744 standard containers with a cargo weight of 778500 tons, an increase of 127% and 207% year-on-year, respectively. In the first seven months of this year, Shijiazhuang International Land Port operated a total of 629 China Europe freight trains, a 150% increase compared to the same period last year, setting a new historical high. Among the 629 trains, there are 242 outbound trains and 387 return trains, with a return to return ratio of 1:1.6. This indicates that the China Europe freight train carries goods both in and out, maintaining a virtuous cycle of "heavy trains going and heavy trains returning".

Ren Yongchang, Deputy General Manager of Shijiazhuang International Land Port, said, "We have pioneered the China Europe freight train multi product consolidation business in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region, opened the 'Huanghua Port Shijiazhuang Moscow' sea rail intermodal transportation line, and transported Central Asian feed wheat flour and other commodities back to China, truly allowing Chinese manufacturing to go global and Silk Road foreign goods to enter our homes

In recent years, the China Europe freight train, known as the "steel camel caravan," has written a new chapter in the trade connectivity between Asia and Europe with a resounding pace. From sporadic operation at the beginning to normalized operation today, from the "new business card" of central and western cities to the "golden channel" of the Eurasian continent, the China Europe freight train continues to release momentum, injecting strong impetus into the stable growth of China's foreign trade and the resilience improvement of the global supply chain with tangible "acceleration".

Data is the most intuitive footnote to 'acceleration'. As of June 10, 2025, the China Europe freight train has operated over 110000 trains over the years, with a total value of over 450 billion US dollars. At present, 128 cities in China have opened China Europe freight trains, connecting 229 cities in 26 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries.

Acceleration is not only reflected in quantity growth, but also stems from the continuous iteration of service efficiency. In recent years, China Europe freight trains have continuously compressed their operational efficiency by optimizing route planning, simplifying customs clearance processes, and innovating intermodal transportation models.

At the South Freight Yard of Xi'an International Port Station, a sculpture of a "large flower basket" stands quietly - this is the starting point of the first China Europe freight train (Xi'an) on November 28, 2013. At that time, no one could have imagined that this railway line extending from inland cities would grow into a "steel camel caravan" main line connecting Asia and Europe in 12 years. Nowadays, the cumulative operating volume of 30000 trains not only means that Xi'an contributes a quarter of the total number of China Europe freight trains in the country, but also sets a record for consecutive years of ranking first in the country in terms of operating volume, freight volume, and heavy container rate.

Now it takes about 12 days to get from Xi'an to Duisburg, Germany, which is almost half faster than before, "sighed Shao Bol, the general manager of Xi'an International Land Port Multimodal Transport Co., Ltd., which has been operating the China Europe freight train (Xi'an Europe) business for many years.

To meet the needs of different industries, the China Europe freight train has also launched special services such as "freight train+cross-border e-commerce", "freight train+bonded warehousing", and "freight train+cold chain transportation". The Zhengzhou China Europe freight train has opened a "cross-border e-commerce special train" to achieve full traceability from door to door; The Wuhan China Europe freight train is conducting a trial operation of a cold chain special train, which can quickly deliver meat and dairy products from Europe to the domestic market. At the same time, countries along the route are strengthening cooperation and promoting customs clearance facilitation measures such as "one order system" and "customs and railway connectivity", allowing goods to travel quickly and efficiently on the Eurasian continent.

On the early morning of August 14th, the China Europe freight train, which had completed cargo collection in the Ordos Comprehensive Bonded Zone, sounded its horn and set sail. It will depart through the Erenhot Port and head to Moscow. This train is equipped with 55 containers, neatly packed with various household appliances such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, etc., with a total value of approximately 13.5 million yuan.

The export goods taking the China Europe freight train this time enter the comprehensive bonded zone in containers. Enterprises can enjoy the benefits of the 'bonded warehousing' policy and the convenience of 'full container warehousing'. The policy of tax refund upon entry into the comprehensive bonded zone greatly improves the efficiency of capital turnover and customs clearance, which can be said to be killing two birds with one stone, "said Liu Xuan, the person in charge of Erdos Ouqiao International Logistics Co., Ltd.

In recent years, the China Europe freight train has maintained stable operation and demonstrated strong resilience.

The transportation network becomes denser and denser. In China, the China Europe freight train has built three channels, namely the west, middle, and east, to attract goods from different directions in a targeted manner; Overseas, a parallel situation of the North Central South three lines has been formed, and the network pattern of the China Europe freight train's overseas channels, which is "smooth, efficient, multi-directional extension, and sea land interconnection", is becoming increasingly perfect.

The port capacity is constantly expanding. We have successively implemented the capacity expansion and reconstruction projects of five major port stations and rear passages at Alashankou, Khorgos, Erenhot, Manzhouli and Suifenhe, and built and put into use Tongjiangbei Port, which has greatly improved the port capacity. At present, the daily transfer capacity of the six major ports has reached 184 trains, providing strong support for the expansion of China Europe freight trains.

The variety of goods is becoming increasingly diverse. The categories of goods transported by the China Europe freight train have expanded to 53 categories and over 50000 types of goods. High value-added goods such as automotive parts, mechanical equipment, and electronic and electrical products have become the main sources of export for the China Europe freight train, accounting for over 60% of the total by 2024. Successfully solved the safety issues of railway transportation for new energy vehicles and consumer lithium batteries, allowing new energy vehicles, lithium-ion battery products, and photovoltaic products manufactured in China to take the China Europe freight train to the world.

Standing at a new starting point, the acceleration of the China Europe freight train will continue to upgrade. In the future, the China Europe freight train will continue to deepen logistics cooperation with countries along the route, making greater contributions to building a new development pattern and promoting global trade liberalization and facilitation.

(Source: People's Daily Online)