Eastern Chinese city sees rise in China-Europe freight train trips

HEFEI -- Loaded with automobiles and auto parts, a China-Europe freight train departed on Friday from Hefei, the capital of East China's Anhui province, heading for Almaty in Kazakhstan.

"As the epidemic wanes and export demand grows, the volume of China-Europe freight trains has increased since late April, and we are busy all day now," said Zhang Yong, a China-Europe freight train driver in the city.

In the first five months of this year, Hefei handled 339 China-Europe freight trains, 175 more than the same period last year. The trains carried 31,956 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers, up 106 percent year-on-year, according to the local railway authorities.

The outbound trains mainly carried photovoltaic products, auto parts, and household appliances. The inbound trains brought products including red wine, milk, barley, and cotton yarn from European and Asian countries.

"The China-Europe freight trains are supporting the global industrial and supply chain. They are cost-effective, stable, and reliable," said Chen Feng, vice-president of Hefei International Land Port Development Co Ltd which is in charge of the freight operation.

Hefei has sent over 2,200 freight trains to 70 destinations in 16 countries since it started the cargo train service in 2014.