China champions high-quality development of China-Europe Railway Express

China will intensify efforts to advance the high-quality development of the China-Europe Railway Express, with officials at a recent forum in Xi'an outlining further steps to boost connectivity, strengthen innovation, enhance security and promote deeper integration.

Zhou Haibing, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic regulator, said future efforts will focus on expanding diversified and efficient routes, upgrading port capacity and improving innovation by strengthening the application of big data and artificial intelligence.

He added that more efforts will also be made to consolidate security foundations through a whole-chain governance system and enhance spillover effects by deepening the integration of the trains with trade and industry.

Zhou made the remarks at the second China Railway Express Cooperation Forum held on Tuesday in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. About 450 representatives from 45 countries and regions gathered under the theme "Connecting Asia and Europe for a Shared Future".

The forum has produced 111 cooperation outcomes—significantly more than the first forum—providing strong momentum for the high-quality development of China-Europe Railway Express.

Official data showed that by the end of October 2025, the China-Europe Railway Express had cumulatively made 118,600 trips, transporting 11.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods. It has reached 232 cities in 26 European countries and more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, covering almost the entire Eurasian region.

Cargo types have expanded to 53 categories, encompassing over 50,000 products. In 2024, high value-added goods such as automobiles, auto parts and machinery accounted for more than 60 percent of total cargo, marking a shift from "smooth flow of trade" to "industrial cooperation".

Liang Linchong, director of the Department of Regional Opening-up at the NDRC, said China is promoting a shift from "point-to-point" to "hub-to-hub" operations, forming a land-sea interconnected network linking three domestic corridors in the west, central and east with three overseas corridors in the north, central and south. 

From January to October 2025, China-Europe Trans-Caspian Express made 371 trips, up more than 30 percent year-on-year, official data showed.

Efficiency improvements and technology adoption became a key consensus at the forum. The China-Europe Railway Express now run about one-third faster than traditional international rail transport, covering 1,600 kilometers per day within China. Transit times for scheduled services have been shortened by more than 30 percent, with the Xi'an-Duisburg journey achievable in as little as 10 days.