Xiamen-Moscow rail service completes trial period

The train of the Xiamen-Moscow direct cargo route departs the Haicang Port Area of Xiamen Free Trade Zone on Aug 25. [Photo/news.xmnn.cn]

The freight train service connecting the port city of Xiamen on China's southeast coast with Moscow has completed its four-month trial period and begun full operations.

A first train of 41 containers left the station from the Haicang Port Area of Xiamen Free Trade Zone for Moscow on Aug 25, carrying 478 tons of goods including shoes, textiles, computer accessories, small household appliances, hardware, building materials and diesel engines.

A single trip on the 9,960-km route takes about 13 days. After the train arrives in Moscow in early September, another train will leave Russia for Xiamen. It will travel via Mongolia's border city of Zamiin-Uud and Erenhot in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region before arriving in Xiamen.

Initially, the line's operators plan to send a train with 40 to 50 containers from Xiamen to the Russian capital every 10 days. From October, this is expected to increase to a train every week.

The route is the third China-Europe freight rail line directly linking Xiamen with European cities. The rail connections are designed to strengthen the Chinese coastal city's strategic importance in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Xiamen-Moscow freight train service will also boost the opening up of Xiamen's economy and support China-Russia trade.

Xiamen's trade with Russia reached 5.35 billion yuan ($800 million) in the first seven months of 2017, a rise of 53 percent year-on-year, according to government data.