Chongqing- On March 19, 2011, the first China-Europe freight train in China, Chongqing-Sinkiang-Europe International Railway, departed from Tuanjiecun Station, Shapingba District, in southwest China's Chongqing. Since then, Tuanjiecun Station has become an important landmark of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"There must be no mistakes in any China-Europe freight trains. This is our tenet as the starting port station of China Railway Express (Chongqing)," said Zhang Xin, Deputy Section Chief of China Railway Administration Chengdu Railway Bureau Yibin train depot and former stationmaster of Tuanjiecun Station.

To ensure the trains run safely and on time, Zhang Xin and his colleagues in the railway industry beyond count stick to the forefront, day and night.

"When I first came to Tuanjiecun Station, it was a small 5th-class railway station without any freight business. We had only 21 employees at that time. In the evening, it was all dark except little light from the station. The space was too narrow that we could not even deliver the goods when the Railway Bureau asked us to unload them. However, towers and buildings are rising now. We have rail transit, and well-connected roads are built in the freight yard."

The running China-Europe freight trains have realized the handshake across Asia and Europe with passion and speed. It has broken through the barrier of mountains and rivers to turn Chongqing from an inland hinterland into an opening frontier.

In the beginning, there were just five arriving and departure tracks at this station. But later, the departure frequency turned to weekly, then daily. Up to now, there are several trains a week. Last year, there were 910 trains departed from the Tuanjiecun Station.

On June 23, 2022, the 10000th China Railway Express (Chongqing) train departed.

Since he gave the departure order for the first time for the China Railway Express (Chongqing), Zhang Xin has witnessed the changes of the past decade as the trains passed by despite the fact he has never been to any places the trains stopped.

"Through China Railway Express (Chongqing), we make the whole world know about Chongqing and deliver products made in Chongqing to the world." Zhang Xin said proudly.

The development of Chongqing can be considered as the rapid development of the railways, which have been the main artery of the national economy in recent years.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has accelerated the construction of a new open economy system, and a higher level of an opening pattern is taking shape.

In the past ten years, Chongqing has been serving the national strategy actively, has been expanding open channels, improving the open platforms, strengthening the open subjects, and optimizing the open environment, and has accelerated the formation of the strategic hub of linkage development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC). Therefore, Chongqing can take the lead in opening in western China.