Shanxi aims for trade hub status through international trains

A freight train hauling 50 containers of cargo worth 12 million yuan ($1.87 million) began an 11,000-kilometer journey on June 2 from Zhongding Logistics Park in Jinzhong city, Shanxi province, to Paris, marking the launch of the first freight route between the northern Chinese province and France.

The train left via Ereenhot in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region and traveled through Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany before arriving at its destination on Monday.

The new freight rail service is operated by Shanxi Jinou Logistics. "The train carries over 700 metric tons of goods, including fitness equipment, clothing, shoes and nearly 90,000 syringes," said Wang Guoqing, a company manager.

"The goods will help meet the needs for daily necessities and medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and around 30 percent are made in Shanxi."

"On the return trip, it will be loaded with timber for local construction and timber processing companies in Shanxi," he said. "The train is expected to complete 100 return trips carrying timber from Europe this year, and we will set up timber trading centers in Shanxi and other regions in North China to serve local markets."

Since being founded in 2017, the company now operates nine international freight routes between Shanxi and 26 cities in 11 European countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

In its first year, the company dispatched 10 freight trains, a figure that increased to 206 last year.

Various goods, including daily necessities, machinery, ceramics, and cotton yarn are sent abroad, opening up a new international logistics mode that has also helped promote the "Made in Shanxi" brand.

As of June 2, the company had handled 74 China-Europe freight trains and 7,148 containers, a 48 percent increase on the same period last year. "At present, around three China-Europe freight trains depart from Zhongding Logistics Park every week," said Zhou Zhifei, vice-general manager of the park. "And we are also planning new routes to countries like Spain, Belgium and Denmark."

In future, Jinou aims to turn Shanxi into an assembly hub for China-Europe freight train services and has set a goal of operating 300 trains this year, improving the province's ability to serve foreign trade and import and export enterprises, and making greater contributions to the high-quality transformation and development of the economy, the company said.