This Day, That Year

Item from July 22, 1991, in China Daily: Goods trains started to run between China and the Soviet Union on Saturday, in a trial operation for the second Eurasian continental railway bridge ... The railway will cut the travel time from the Western Pacific to Europe by 70 percent compared with the trans-Siberian railway line. Transportation costs will be cut by a third.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, transport infrastructure projects linking Asia and Europe.

With its focus on cooperation and connectivity among neighboring countries in Eurasia, the move has fueled growing rail links between China and Europe.