From European farm to Chinese table: Europe hopes freight trains to boost exports

WARSAW - With increasing amounts of European agricultural foods being served on Chinese dining tables, Europe expects to see more and more local produces enter the world's biggest market by boarding the Europe-China freight trains.

"We deeply hope to step up trade cooperation and export healthy and safe Polish food products to China to serve quality-minded consumers," Monika Tyska, director of Export Support Office of Agricultural Market Agency, Poland, told Xinhua.

She said that the regular and fast Europe-China cargo train service "may be a drive to establish new, fruitful business relationships by a greater number of entities whose maritime transport was too long or whose goods did not qualify for this type of transport."

In the Polish city of Lodz, a stop along a cargo train route linking China's Chengdu city, the first cargo trains arrived three-and-a-half years ago.

The rail cargo service between Chengdu and Lodz has become a popular logistics route for Chinese trade with Europe.
Krzysztof Piatkowski, deputy mayor of Lodz, said the Chengdu-Lodz connection contributed to his city becoming an important hub.

"The train connection is perceived as an opportunity by local food producers of juices, sweets, alcohol, including our famous Lodz cider," he said.

The District Cooperative dairy Plant in Lowicz (OSM Lowicz), created some 110 years ago, is a leading Polish diary producer.
Located only 50 km away from the Lodz railway station, the company exports 500 tonnes of milk powder monthly to China.
Last year, OSM Lowicz exported about 600 containers of milk products, worth about 10 million euros ($10.8 million), to China.

"We do hope it will continue to rise, as we are capable to produce much more," said Szymon Makos, export Specialist form OSM Lowicz.

Allegro, a leading Polish e-commerce platform, is seeking Chinese partners to tap the Chinese market, hoping to bring Polish specialty products to China via sea and rail links.

Major logistics and trade platforms, like DHL and Amazon, also have entered into cooperation with the China-Europe cargo train services in a bid to broaden their services.

According to Su Penghui, a Warsaw-based businessman specialized in transport services through the China-Europe freight trains, European-produced olive oil, wine and milk powder are popular among Chinese consumers.

More than 3,500 cargo trains have run since the regular China-Europe freight train service was launched in 2011, the service operator China Railway reported in April this year.

So far, the regular cargo train service linking Europe is available in 27 Chinese cities, and can reach 28 cities in 11 European countries, China Railway said.

In recent years, China has overtaken Russia to become the European Union's second largest export market for agricultural products.

European Union statistics showed that the past three years saw steady and continuous growth of European agricultural exports to China.