Shenyang railways and customs find innovative solution to shorten time

"Now we have imbedded the software on the crane. When the crane lifts a container, its information such as the number of the container, the weight and the situation of balance, will be collected and uploaded to Customs' platform. When the information has been verified, the train can be released, reducing one process of loading and unloading, and transporting the containers between different yards for inspection. Now the operation time to inspect one container is about one hour," he said.

"In addition, with close cooperation with the railway department, freight yard and the Customs, railway tracks are built in the area under Customs supervision, trains can be checked released and departed once the inspection is completed, greatly reducing the time for Customs clearance," he said.

The first China-Europe freight train departed from the railway hub in March. As of August, more than 230 such trains were operated, carrying over 19,000 containers.

The railway hub, as the largest comprehensive railway freight station and freight distribution center in Northeast China, can cater more than 1,000 China-Europe freight trains every year.

From January to August, 317 China-Europe freight trains were operated by China Railway Shenyang Group, the regional railway operation, a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent.

In 2014, the company operated the first China-Europe freight train from Yingkou of Liaoning to Moscow.

As of August, more than 4,000 such trains were operated by the company.

WANG YUQING CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY