BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- A new freight train left Yantai, a transport hub in eastern China's Shandong Province, heading for Kiev, capital of Ukraine on Sunday.
The train, loaded with 41 containers of mechanical equipment, home appliances, and other goods, will leave China through Erenhot in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and reach Kiev within 18 days.
Ukraine is an important foreign trade center in Europe. The opening of this line has shortened the transportation time of the goods produced by Shandong enterprise to Ukraine from 45 days by sea to about 20 days by rail.
The Europe-Asia freight trains departing from Shandong are operated under the name of "Qilu", another name of the province. The move is good for resource integration, route planning and optimization of transportation.
Since the beginning of this year, the "Qilu" Europe-Asia freight trains have made 562 trips, a year-on-year increase of 41.2 percent. At present, the number of "Qilu" freight train lines has increased to 34, which can directly reach 42 cities in 14 countries along the Belt and Road routes. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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