On December 7, the X9216/5 China-Europe Railway Express (CRE) train―loaded with textiles, spare auto parts, daily necessities, hardware, and machine components―departed from the East China International Combined Transport Port to Uzbekistan. To date, 600 Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe (YXE) round-trip CRE trains have launched from the Jindong Platform, and 1205 YXE CRE trains had launched from the Yiwu Platform as of December 7.

On December 9, 2014, the first CRE train (Yiwu-Madrid) set out, which drove the transportation of Sino-European trade into a new stage. Seven years have passed, as numerous commodities made in China have been transported to countries in Asia and Europe and a variety of overseas commodities have been transported to China, such as red wine from Spain, spare auto parts from Germany, and crystal from the Czech Republic.

The number of launched YXE trains this year ranked third among CRE trains across the country. The YXE trains from the Yiwu platform run 16 routes, connecting 50 countries and regions across Europe and Asia and totaling 101 overseas stations. More than 3200 trains have set out since 2014, and these cover the main trade countries and regions along the Silk Road. Meanwhile, the routes from the Jindong platform run 19 routes, connecting 120 overseas cities.

A Chinese visitor and overseas exhibitor taste products imported from Europe. (November 13, 2020)

As one of the trains running the most routes and connecting the most countries and regions, YXE trains stick to following market forces and launching themed trains loaded with high-quality, in-demand commodities, including Epidemic Prevention Materials Trains, China Post Trains, Tea Trains, and more. These efforts have brought about increases in number of trains and growth against the trends of transport trade. (Text and photo by Qian Xusheng, translated by Wang Junwen, edited by Kendra Fiddler)