A CRE train travels through the Dabancheng Wetland in Urumqi in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Oct. 6, 2023. (Xinhua)
The China Railway Express (CRE) has grown into a vital transportation artery spanning Eurasia, with trains shuttling back and forth. As the number of routes keeps rising, a vast transportation network connecting Asia and Europe is becoming increasingly intricate.
A train of the Trans-Caspian International Transportation Corridor (Jinhua-Bashi-Baku) waits to depart at Jinhua South Railway Station in Zhejiang Province. (Hangzhou Railway Logistics Center)
Crossing the Caspian Sea
One morning in August, a whistle pierced the sky at the Xi'an International Port Station. A China Railway Express train, fully loaded with photovoltaic modules, slowly started its journey toward Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
For Ouyang Cefei, deputy general manager of NWEPDI International Engineering Company, this was a long-awaited moment. "This is the first time we're shipping photovoltaic modules to Azerbaijan via the China Railway Express. In the future, 4,500 containers and 100 special trains will depart from Xi'an in succession."
This train departs from Xi'an, exits China through the Horgos railway port, crosses Kazakhstan to reach the port of Aktau on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, takes a ship across the Caspian, and finally arrives in Baku. Compared with sea transport, this route cuts the transportation time from about two months to as short as 11 days.
Yuan Xiaojun, general manager of Xi'an International Port Group Co., Ltd., which organizes the CRE trains, has witnessed the rapid growth of this corridor. "Since the first cross-Caspian and cross-Black Sea train launched in April 2022, Xi'an's cross-Caspian services have entered a phase of high-speed development and become the main force for China's cross-Caspian rail services."
This is a microcosm of the rapid development of cross-Caspian CRE train services. In recent years, several localities have opened their own cross-Caspian services. In 2024, the number of cross-Caspian train trips doubled, contributing to the overall growth in CRE services.
This photo shows the launch of the return leg of the ASEAN Express service in Duisburg, Germany, June 21, 2025. (Xinhua)
Connecting with ASEAN
In Duisburg today, the constant shuttling of CRE trains has become a daily occurrence. One day in June 2025, the departure of a train added something unusual to this routine.
Loaded with goods including maternal and infant supplies, beauty products and medical consumables, this train departed from the DIT terminal. What made it different was that this train's final destination was ASEAN countries like Thailand and Vietnam.
This is a new logistics model pioneered by Chongqing. By integrating the CRE and the China-Laos Railway, it achieves seamless logistics connectivity from Europe to ASEAN.
An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 28, 2024 shows a view of Chongqing International Logistics Hub Park. (Xinhua)
Liu Taiping, chairman of New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Co., Ltd., said goods under this new logistics model need to be entrusted only once and transported in a single container from start to finish, allowing for rapid customs clearance.
Since its launch in October 2024, this new logistics service has opened three routes — from Vietnam, Laos and Thailand to Europe via Chongqing — and transported goods with a combined value of over 2 billion yuan. The inaugural run of this return train also marked the two-way operation for this new trade artery connecting Europe and Asia.
The smooth operation of this corridor implies much broader market prospects. With the channel now operating in both directions, logistics companies in Chongqing are already considering how to use the railway service to transport ASEAN products like fruit and rice faster and better to Europe.
The CRE, with its channels constantly expanding, will build a new, green economic and trade corridor connecting Europe and Asia, said Li Yan, deputy director of Chongqing's port and logistics office.
Extending Toward the North
The fairy tales written by Hans Christian Andersen have accompanied countless children as they grew up. The Danish Embassy in China holds a collection of Andersen's autobiography, "The True Story of My Life," which records a little-known memory: "I imagined that one moonlight night, I would dig a passage underground, to the kingdom of the Chinese Emperor."
Compared with the underground passage to China that Andersen imagined, the seamless operation of CRE routes has now become three-dimensional and efficient bridges across the Eurasian continent in real life.
An aerial photo taken on May 25, 2024 shows a view of CRE trains gathering and waiting to depart at Alashankou Railway Station in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua)
On Oct. 15, 2025, a CRE train fully loaded with goods such as auto parts and toys departed from Wuhan center station of China United International Rail Containers Co., Ltd. and exited China via the Alashankou port. After the cargo arrives in Hamburg, Germany, a portion will be transferred and distributed via rail-sea intermodal transport to Nordic countries, including Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
This marks another extension of CRE services via Wuhan to Northern Europe. It is also the first time Wuhan has opened a dedicated route to Denmark via the CRE.
"The entire journey takes about 22 days, with one-time customs declaration, reducing many transshipment steps," said an executive from Wuhan Asia-Europe Logistics Co., Ltd., adding that the new route will significantly boost cross-border logistics efficiency.
In recent years, CRE trains via Wuhan have continuously expanded their reach into the Nordic region. The launch of these new routes to the three Nordic countries has added a vivid footnote to the growing trade between China and the Nordic nations.
Data showed that in 2024, trade between China and the five Nordic countries reached 53.17 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%. From January to August 2025, trade between China and those countries reached 37.96 billion dollars, up 7.1% from a year earlier — a growth rate more than doubling that of overall China-Europe trade during the same period.
As the wheels keep rolling forward, the network of routes is becoming more and more elaborate, forming a sprawling international logistics tapestry. (By Cao Jianing)
A single purchase
