(ECNS) -- To date, China-Europe freight train services have completed over 130,000 trips, carrying goods worth over $520 billion over past ten years, according to data released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Tuesday.
Annual operations rose from 1,702 trips in 2016 to more than 20,000 in 2025, representing average annual growth of over 30%, said Liang Linchong, director-general of the Department of Regional Opening-up of the NDRC, at a press conference. The network now completes in one month more trips than it did throughout 2016.
Customs clearance is now completed within 30 minutes following the rollout of a digital port system and an express rail clearance model. Fixed-timetable trains, which run to set schedules like passenger services, have cut journey times by more than a third. The Xi'an-Duisburg route, once a 15-day journey, can now be completed in 11 days, according to the press conference, according to the official.
The loaded container rate, an indicator of how full the trains run, has stayed at 100 percent for 46 consecutive months as of June 2026, while outbound and return trips have moved close to a 1:1 balance, Liang said.
Cross-border logistics projects, government cooperation agreements and two international forums have further strengthened the network’s operational capacity and global influence, the official added.
(By Intern Lin Qiaochu, Zhang Dongfang)
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