Global Times — 2023-04-16
Land transportation
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on 2023 April 16 saw the departure of the first China-Europe Railway Express trains that carried domestically made commercial vehicles, adding another route to China's increasingly expanding international logistics channels that facilitate exports.
The train, with 55 containers bearing 165 commercial vehicles, left the Harbin International Container Center Station during the day and headed for Europe via the Manzhouli port, the Global Times learned from the China Railway Harbin Group Co.
The company said that it has taken measures such as priority loading for the train to ensure its smooth operation. The train is expected to arrive at its destination in just 15 days.
According to the company, products carried on the train are worth about ¥33m ($4.8m), the highest freight value among all China-Europe Railway Expresses that ran from Heilongjiang this year.
A second train to carry domestic cars has started loading and is scheduled to start operation next week. It will carry more car models with more frequent transport batches, the company disclosed, adding that it is expected to achieve normalized export transportation in the future.
After years of development, China has grown into the world's largest car manufacturing hub. In 2022, China exported more than 3m cars, up 54.4% on a yearly basis, data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.
In particular, China exported about 670,000 new-energy vehicles last year, up 1.2 times compared with the previous year.
According to the China Railway Harbin Group Co, the Harbin International Container Center Station is the first logistics center in Heilongjiang that carries out the entire range of vehicle and parts shipments. The station can handle about 100 China-Europe Railway Expresses each year.
After anti-COVID restrictions were lifted, the operations of the China-Europe Railway Express have become very active as a result of a trade pick-up.
In the first quarter of 2023, China ran 4,186 China-Europe Railway Express trains, up 15% on a yearly basis, data released by the China Railway showed.