Rail exports boost trade

The freight trains linking Hunan province with countries around the world have significantly boosted high-quality opening-up and international trade of the province, according to the Department of Commerce of Hunan province.

More than 1,000 China-Europe freight train services departed from Changsha, capital city of Hunan, in 2024, carrying goods worth over 19.3 billion yuan ($2.63 billion), the department said.

It marks the fourth year that the number exceeds 1,000, it said. Meanwhile, the number of China-Europe freight trains from Changsha to Russia has ranked No 1 in China for four consecutive years, the department added.

The freight trains have 12 routes, traveling to 100 cities in almost 30 countries in Asia and Europe.

Local authorities also made adjustments to the containers of the China-Europe freight trains so that large goods made by heavy industry and vehicle enterprises in Hunan can fit into standard containers for export overseas, the department said.

Changsha heavy machinery maker Zoomlion exported 4,800 standard container throughput of goods via the trains last year, up 253 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Geely's Xiangtan manufacturing base exported more than 12,000 standard container throughput to Belarus and Moscow in Russia in both 2023 and 2024.

Moreover, the number of freight train trips from Huaihua, Hunan to ASEAN members also passed 1,000 last year, transporting goods worth 5.8 billion yuan, the department said.

There are seven cities in neighboring provinces in Hubei and Jiangxi that have used the routes to transport goods to ASEAN countries, it said.

Meanwhile, the number of freight train trips from Hunan to Africa via Guangdong province also exceeded 1,000 last year, transporting goods worth 14.7 billion yuan.

It only takes 20 hours for the freight train to travel from Zhuzhou, Hunan, to Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province, and the trains do not need to make any stop.

Huang Que, deputy general manager of Zhuzhou Xing Long New Material Co Ltd, said the company's goods are very popular in Southeast Asia. However, in the past, they needed to use cars to transport them to Changsha pier before they were shipped to Shanghai and overseas, which took about 25 to 35 days, he said.

"With the operation of freight trains between Hunan-Guangdong-Africa, it only takes 15 days for goods to reach the destination, and the logistics costs have also been significantly reduced", he said.

Zhang Ping, deputy general manager of Hunan Hualian Porcelain Co Ltd, said since the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa freight trains were opened in early 2022, the company has exported around 1,000 standard container throughput of porcelain to South Africa every month.