Chongqing - At 15:00 on February 28, with the sound of a whistle, a "Wuling Mountain" China-Europe freight train loaded with fourteen 40-foot containers of Xiushan lanterns, handmade lanterns, toys, and other commodities slowly departed from the cargo yard of Xiushan Station in southeastern Chongqing on the Chongqing-Huaihua Railway. 

On February 28, 2024, the first China-Europe freight train, "Wuling Mountain" (Xiushan, Chongqing-Moscow, Russia) from Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County in Chongqing, waited to depart in the cargo yard of Xiushan Station. (Photo/Hu Cheng)

This train passed through Tuanjie Village and exited via Khorgos bound for Russia. This is the first China-Europe freight train to depart from southeastern Chongqing. It marks that Xiushan Station has become the new departure station for the service. 

"The launch of this train means that Xiushan Station has become the first departure station for China-Europe trains in the southeastern region of Chongqing, covering the three provincial-level administrative regions of Chongqing, Hu'nan, and Guizhou, 30 surrounding districts and counties, 2,500 e-commerce entities, and 25,000 networks shop, accelerating to help the Wuling Mountain area of traditional Chinese medicine, metal minerals, new materials, electronics, automobile parts and other commodities to go out of the country, to the world," said Zhang Xin, the freight director at Xiushan Station.

On October 12, 2023, the launch of the first New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) train marked the smooth commissioning of the capacity expansion and transformation of the Xiushan Station cargo yard. The loading and unloading area increased from the original 18,000 square meters to 46,000 square meters, the loading and unloading lines also changed from one line to two, and the annual container arrival and departure capacity increased from the original 30,000 TEUs to 100,000 TEUs, which can meet the loading, unloading, and storage of 20-foot, 40-foot, and 35T general-purpose containers. 

Since this year, the Fuling depot of China Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co., Ltd. has operated a total of 41 international trains, transporting 612.99 million tons of cargo.

On February 28, 2024, workers were hoisting equipment to load containers at the railway station freight yard in Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, Chongqing. (Photo/ Hu Cheng)

The launch of the "Wuling Mountain" China-Europe freight train, coupled with the opening of the ILSTC from Xiushan to Myanmar and western Vietnam, connects the west and central regions to Central Asia and European countries, fostering their cooperation.

As the Belt and Road Initiative progresses, China-Europe freight trains serve as the "steel camel fleet" of the new era, contributing to the flourishing local economy with stable and efficient logistics services. They are crucial in driving rural revitalization in southeastern Chongqing, bridging the gap between the region and overseas markets, providing a convenient channel for local specialty products to reach global markets, and promoting cultural exchanges and integration between China and foreign countries.

(Cheng Jialu, as an intern, also contributed to the report)