BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The first cargo train from Shenzhen to Europe via Ganzhou in Jiangxi Province departed Ganzhou international land port on Saturday afternoon toward Duisburg, Germany.
The train left Shenzhen on May 12 and arrived in Ganzhou the day after, bringing 20 containers of clothing, home appliance, and it was loaded with another 22 containers in Ganzhou, making the total value of goods to 3.5 million dollars.
It will cross the border through Alataw Pass in Xinjiang and pass countries including Kazakhstan and Russia to have a travel of 13,000 kilometers, according to Shao Fei, director of Ganzhou customs, subordinate to Nanchang customs.
The cargo train cuts the travel time from Shenzhen to Duisburg by 10 days from 26-28 days by ocean shipping, which provides a competitive option for goods require quick respond, such as home appliance and electronic products from Shenzhen,” said Shao.
Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, ocean and air shipping have been disrupted. To normalize its operation, Nanchang customs has drafted special plans for the freight train to increase customs clearance efficiency.
In 2019, 370 cargo trains from Ganzhou international land port to Europe or Central Asia were launched and the port established trade cooperation with over 20 cities in more than 10 countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt.
South China is a major export source of Chinese goods to Europe, as 50 percent of the goods transported by the cargo trains from Ganzhou to Europe and Central Asia were from cities of the Greater Bay area.
(Edited by Yang Qi with Xinhua Silk Road, kateqiyang@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
