Chongqing - The China–Europe Railway Express (Chengdu–Chongqing) surpassed 5,000 train services in 2025, maintaining its position as China’s largest China–Europe rail operation for the fifth consecutive year, according to the China–Europe Railway Express Transport Coordination Committee.
China–Europe Railway Express Departs from Guoyuan Port. (Photo/Liangjiang New Area)
The Chengdu–Chongqing section is China’s first inter-provincial China–Europe Railway Express system. To address fragmented operations, the two cities established a regular coordination mechanism linking local governments and operating platforms. The mechanism unifies pricing, service scale, policy support, brand management, external negotiations, publicity, and overseas resource allocation. The National Development and Reform Commission has promoted the model nationwide as a replicable practice.
Over the past five years, the Chengdu–Chongqing route has operated more than 26,000 trains across over 50 international routes, connecting more than 130 cities across Eurasia. The network plays a key role in stabilizing global industrial and supply chains.
Route expansion has become a major driver of growth. On July 9, 2025, the Chengdu and Chongqing operating platforms simultaneously launched a South Corridor Express Train. Departing via Khorgos Port in Xinjiang, the route crosses the Caspian and Black Seas before reaching Türkiye, cutting total transit time to under 25 days—more than 10 days faster than traditional routes.
In Central Asia, the first regular freight service began in April 2025, followed by the launch of a public service train in May. Together, they form a flexible “customized + public train” model that broadens cargo coverage and improves capacity utilization.
Meanwhile, Chengdu continues to strengthen its role as a key railway hub in western China. The central and northern routes of the China–Europe Railway Express (Chengdu) maintain stable two-way operations, providing supply-chain services for manufacturers such as TCL. Regular services like the Chengdu–Shenzhen Express connect with major ports including Qinzhou and Yantian, helping build a land–sea transport system linking Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
China–Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) now operates regular, full-schedule services directly to Duisburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary. Its Southern Corridor network extends to North Africa, while bidirectional ASEAN Express services together form a stable logistics corridor across Eurasia, supporting greener international trade.
According to official data, the China–Europe Railway Express (Chengdu–Chongqing) has attracted more than 200 major industrial projects and fostered four trillion yuan in industrial clusters, including electronic information and automobile manufacturing.
(Zhang Xinyue, an intern, also contributed to this report.)