China-Europe freight trains accelerate trade

China-Europe freight train services reached a new milestone on Friday, with the total number of trips surpassing 120,000, reflecting their growing role in maintaining stable global supply chains and promoting economic cooperation across Eurasia.

The milestone was achieved at 12:13 pm, when train X8086 departed from the Chengdu International Railway Port in Southwest China's Sichuan province for Malaszewicze, Poland, according to China State Railway Group, the overall organizer of the service. With this latest trip, goods worth more than $490 billion have been delivered over the years, reflecting the service's expanding scale and improved quality.

Launched in 2011, the services now connect 128 Chinese cities with 232 cities in 26 European countries, as well as more than 100 cities in 11 Asian nations. Multiple corridors and six major border gateways enable efficient east-west flows, forming a network that spans nearly the entire Eurasian landmass.

Improved customs procedures, including the digital 95306 system, have reduced clearance times from hours to minutes.

Steady improvements to railway infrastructure — such as upgraded border ports — have lifted combined daily handling capacity at the gateways to 184 train services, ensuring smoother and more reliable operations.

For many companies, the railway has become a strategic logistics lifeline. Linglong Tire, one of China's largest tire manufacturers and exporters, first turned to the trains in 2021 due to soaring ocean freight costs and unstable shipping schedules.

"The sea transportation was unstable, with prices rocketing and space difficult to book. That gave us an opportunity to cooperate with the China-Europe freight train services," said Pan Wenfeng, head of Linglong's inland logistics department. "For critical raw materials and equipment where time efficiency matters, we now choose the railway. Transit times are 50 percent faster than sea transport, greatly improving cash flow and enhancing our global competitiveness."

Headquartered in Zhaoyuan, Shandong province, Linglong has expanded its global footprint with major investments overseas, including manufacturing plants in Thailand and Serbia — the latter being China's first tire plant in Europe.

Today, about 10 percent of the company's exports are shipped via China-Europe freight train services.

The benefits are equally visible in inland regions. In Nankang district of Ganzhou, Jiangxi province — China's "capital of solid wood furniture" — the freight trains have turned an inland manufacturing base into a global exporter.

"Relying on the China-Europe freight train services, the transit time for timber on return trips has been cut to 12 days, 25 days faster than sea transport, and overall logistics costs have dropped by 18 percent," said Ye Zhangnan, manager of the Ganzhou office of the Nanchang railway logistics center.

Furniture manufacturers say the rail link has reshaped their global reach. "Furniture is bulky and heavy. Compared with sea or air transport, the China-Europe freight trains offer both speed and cost advantages," said Wen Shitong, head of Fulong Crown Furniture, noting that inland exporters now ship more efficiently and reliably to overseas markets.

Today, Nankang's furniture reaches 19 countries, supported by a full industrial chain that employs more than 500,000 people.

Foreign partners say the services are becoming indispensable. "The China-Europe freight train services provide customers with stable and fast transportation," said Alona Toprak, managing director of DB Cargo Eurasia, a subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Bahn specializing in cross-border rail logistics for China, Central Asia and Europe. She noted growing cooperation in green energy equipment, new energy vehicles and cross-border e-commerce.

To further improve reliability, 22 set-scheduled train services now run each week, cutting transit times by more than 30 percent compared with regular services. Cargo varieties have expanded to include e-commerce parcels, cold chain food, automobiles and new energy products. In 2024, the services operated 19,000 trips, up 10 percent year-on-year.

China State Railway Group said it will continue to work with international partners to enhance route capacity, improve service quality, expand green logistics solutions and advance digital and intelligent upgrades.