Freight train makes history with Spanish stop

Representatives of Spain's railway administration institution Adif, Spanish railway operator Renfe and Shanxi's Huayuan Land Port Group welcome the freight train from Shanxi at Madrid's Abronigal Railway Station on Oct 16. [Photo by Wu Kangbo for China Daily]

Shanxi-made goods arrive in Madrid for the first time via direct rail route as Belt and Road celebrates 10th anniversary

A train full of commodities made in North China's Shanxi province arrived at Abronigal Railway Station in Madrid on Oct 16, marking the first freight train to Spain on Shanxi's China-Europe freight train service.

Officials in Shanxi said it helps to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative and the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation taking place in Beijing on Oct 17-18.

The BRI is a global initiative proposed by the Chinese authorities in 2013, which aims to build a community with a shared future that strengthens economic and cultural exchanges, facilitates connectivity and promotes the free flow of goods, capital and other resources.

Shanxi has been an active player since the initiative was launched. The China-Europe freight train service starting in Shanxi and destined for European and Central Asian countries is part of the province's contribution to the BRI.

According to an executive at Huayuan Land Port Group, the operator of the freight train service, the train bound for Spain carried 55 containers of goods with a total weight of 925 metric tons and total value of 12 million yuan ($1.64 million). The goods included canned food, train wheel sets, machines and machinery components.

The executive added that the sale and purchase deals of these commodities were all made online, thus this was the first delivery for cross-border e-commerce trade via Shanxi's China-Europe freight train service.

The train departed from Zhongding Logistics Park in the Shanxi city of Jinzhong on Sept 16. It then passed through six countries – Kazakstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France – and arrived in Madrid exactly one month later. The total distance traveled was more than 12,000 kilometers.

The train's arrival at 11:30 am was welcomed by officials and executives of Spain's railway administration institution Adif, Spanish railway operator Renfe and Huayuan Land Port Group.

The arrival marks the first freight train from Shanxi to Spain on the province's China-Europe freight train service. [Photo by Wu Kangbo for China Daily]

Huayuan is one of the flagship logistics companies in Shanxi province. Its business covers international and domestic operations, as well as multimodal transportation over land, sea and air.

The international freight train service is the principal business of Huayuan. Goods depart from six logistics parks it operates in Shanxi, which are bound for more than 40 cities in 16 countries across Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia, using 15 domestic and international railway lines.

Shanxi, which has positioned itself as a new hub for opening-up in inland China, has developed the China-Europe freight train service since 2017. There are more than a dozen routes for the service, departing China via such land ports as Manzhouli and Ereenhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Alataw and Khorgos in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Shanxi's freight train service toward Laos and the rest of Southeast Asia also started in March 2022. A bonded land port in the city of Houma is the starting point of that route.

The number of freight trains from Shanxi to Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia has been increasing year-by-year, from 10 trains in 2017 to 185 trains in 2020.

On Aug 5, Shanxi witnessed the departure of the 700th international freight train, which was bound for Central Asian countries. Statistics show that, before that date, Shanxi's international freight trains had transported a total of 788,000 tons of cargo, with a combined value amounting to 10.67 billion yuan.

The international train services have contributed greatly to promoting international business cooperation for Shanxi, local officials and industry insiders said. They added that developing international logistics passageways through China's railway facilities can push the boundaries of the inland province.

Shanxi has developed a number of land ports and logistics parks to serve international freight trains. These include Zhongding in Jinzhong and Fanglue in Houma, as well as others in the cities of Datong, Yangquan, Changzhi, Jiexiu and Xiaoyi.

Liu Ruiqiang contributed to this story.