China-Europe freight train service marks milestone

A China-Europe freight train bound for Moscow departed Puhe station in Shenyang, Liaoning province, at 11:30 am on Thursday, bringing the service's cumulative trips to top 140,000 and transporting goods worth more than $560 billion since the rail network began operating in 2011.

The milestone was achieved a decade after the service adopted the unified brand of China Railway Express in June 2016.

According to China State Railway Group, the national railway operator, the network now connects 237 cities in 26 European countries and more than 100 cities in 12 Asian countries.

An average of 51.2 China-Europe freight trains departed China daily through six major border crossings this year, up 12.8 percent year-on-year, the operator said.

Freight flows have also become more balanced. In September, the ratio of return trips to outbound trips exceeded 90 percent for the ninth consecutive month.

Vehicles and auto parts, machinery, and electrical and electronic products are among the major items of outbound cargo, while timber, pulp, agricultural products and consumer goods from Europe travel in the opposite direction.

As the network expands, efforts are underway to make services more predictable and better suited to different types of cargo, helping businesses plan shipments and meet delivery commitments.

A Moscow-bound train carrying auto parts, industrial machinery and precision instruments departed Beijing on Thursday. At Beijing International Land Port in Fangshan district, scheduled trains leave for Central Asia every Monday and for Europe every Thursday, supplemented by additional trains to meet demand.

"With trains following a regular schedule, companies can book space ahead of time and plan when to make and ship their goods," said Sun Zhiyu, deputy general manager of the port.

According to China Railway Beijing Group, scheduled China-Europe and China-Central Asia services from Beijing take about 12 to 15 days. Fixed departure times, routes and train numbers give businesses a more predictable delivery window.

For Sinopec Lubricant Co, the rail connection is close to home, with its factory situated just over 10 kilometers from the inland port. Goods make the short trip to the port before continuing overseas by train.

Sun said the company previously faced high transshipment costs and fluctuating transit times when exporting by sea. Using the rail service has significantly reduced its overall logistics costs and strengthened its confidence in expanding exports.

International freight trains have made more than 100 trips from Beijing, according to China Railway Beijing Group. Destinations included Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

Across the wider China-Europe network, 22 services with fixed timetables for their entire journeys operate each week between nine Chinese cities and six European cities. The national operator said predictable transit times help meet the cross-border shipping needs of high-end manufacturers.

Innovation highlighted

In Northeast China, growing vehicle exports have prompted another innovation: increasing the number of cars that can be loaded into each container while retaining its suitability for return journeys.

Fan Zeyu, an operations management staff member at the Shenyang branch of China Railway Container Transport Co, said a new 40-foot container designed for vehicle shipments was first put to use in Changchun, Jilin province, in June.

The container has 10 percent more usable internal space than a standard container and is fitted with folding vehicle racks. It can carry four cars or small and medium-sized sport utility vehicles, one more than a general-purpose container.

Vehicles are loaded and secured outside the container before being moved inside. Each vehicle takes​ an average of just 15 minutes to load.

"Customers told us the logistics cost per vehicle was 15 percent lower compared with exports by road," Fan said.

Operational improvements are also helping speed up cross-border transport. The national operator has worked with customs authorities and overseas railway companies to streamline border procedures, reducing the time for customs clearance to less than 30 minutes in some cases.

The operator said it will continue expanding capacity and improving services with overseas partners, with a focus on achieving a better balance between outbound and return traffic.