Freight train loaded with goods leaves Guangzhou as it heads to Europe

A China-Europe freight train loaded with goods, including daily necessities and household appliances, departed from Guangzhou International Port in Guangdong provincial capital on Saturday, heading for Europe.

The train will exit the mainland via Khorgos Port in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, pass through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, cross the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, and finally move through Turkiye, Romania, and related European countries, according to a statement released by Guangzhou Customs, which supervises the operation of the train, on Saturday.

The debut of the freight train marks the official launch and operation of the south railway passage to Europe that starts from Guangzhou, known as a millennium commercial capital, to Europe and runs across the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, the statement said.

The China-Europe freight train carrying a total of fifty 40-foot standard containers runs about 10,000 kilometers throughout the journey.

The operation of the special China-Europe freight train will help further advance economic and trade links between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and European countries, it said.

Previously, goods manufactured by the enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area could only be exported to Turkiye by sea or air, said Wang Wenping, general manager of the customs brokerage company in charge of the freight forwarding for the train.

"When transported by the China-Europe freight train, it saves about 15 days compared with sea transportation, and the freight cost is only about 60 percent of that of air transportation, which is cost-effective," said Wang.

The China-Europe freight train features regular dispatch and minimal timeliness fluctuations, which helps enterprises conduct more scientific and accurate logistics planning.

"Now a growing number of enterprises are using it to transport their products to Central Asia, Europe, and relevant countries and regions," said Wang.

According to the Guangzhou Customs statement, the south railway passage to Europe shipment and transportation adopts the "rail-sea-rail" intermodal transportation mode throughout the entire journey, establishing an overseas channel network pattern for China-Europe railway transportation that is "smooth and efficient, multi-directional extended, and interconnected by land and sea".

Compared with traditional sea freight, the south railway passage that runs across the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea features a shorter route and higher stability, saving about one-third of the transportation time, said the statement.

"And this significant improvement in transportation efficiency helps reduce enterprises' logistics costs and enhances their competitiveness in the international market," it added.