According to China Railway on April 14th, in the first quarter of this year, a total of 4541 China Europe freight trains were operated, sending 493000 TEUs of goods, an increase of 9% and 10% year-on-year, respectively. As of the end of March 2024, the China Europe freight train has operated over 87000 trains, reaching 222 cities in 25 European countries.

Since this year, China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. has conscientiously implemented the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference, implemented the deployment of the eight actions for high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road", adhered to the principle of joint consultation, joint construction and sharing, played the role of domestic and international cooperation mechanisms, continued to promote the high-quality development of China EU trains, ensured the stability and smoothness of the international supply chain, strongly promoted China EU connectivity, and injected strong momentum into the high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" and high-level opening up.

The construction of channels is constantly being strengthened. Promote the diversity construction of China Europe freight train channels and routes, and further expand the radiation range of China Europe freight trains. The transport test of China Europe regular trains from Xi'an, Chongqing, Yiwu to Poti, Georgia, and Istanbul, Türkiye was carried out. There were six China Europe regular trains running through the southern channel, an increase of 200% year on year. Newly opened China Europe freight train routes, including Harbin to Tilburg in the Netherlands, Shijiazhuang to Belgrade in Serbia, and Qingdao to Moscow in Russia, to facilitate economic and trade exchanges between various regions and European countries.

The transportation capacity is gradually expanding. Optimize the transportation organization of the China Europe freight train, guide and encourage full capacity transportation, strengthen full process operation monitoring, and improve the transportation efficiency of the China Europe freight train. Strengthen port transportation organization, strengthen communication and coordination with customs, border inspection and other departments, actively promote the rapid customs clearance mode of railway, coordinate overseas railway enterprises to increase the efforts to pick up and change trains, improve port transportation capacity and customs clearance facilitation level, and the traffic volume of the West (Alashankou, Khorgos), Central (Second Company), and East (Manzhouli, Suifenhe, Tongjiangbei) channels increased by 8%, 14%, and 8% year on year respectively.

The service quality continues to improve. Stable operation of China Europe freight trains between Xi'an and Duisburg, Germany, and Chengdu and Łó d ź, Poland, with significantly reduced transportation time compared to regular trains. In the first quarter, a total of 65 trains were operated, which was favored by customers. Give full play to the service role of the China Europe freight train portal website, actively promote the "one-stop" handling of online booking, yard services, container management services and other businesses, and provide convenience for customers. Closely aligning with market demand, implementing flexible pricing strategies, accelerating the construction of overseas warehouses, and customizing characteristic trains such as tomato sauce, wood, tea, edible oil, and new energy vehicles to provide customers with high-quality international logistics services. Actively applying new technologies such as Beidou satellite positioning and 5G, implementing measures such as loading reinforcement and security checks to ensure the safe and stable operation of China Europe freight trains.

The scope of operation of the China Europe freight train continues to expand, and the volume of transportation continues to grow strongly, highlighting the stable and positive trend of China's foreign trade. China Railway Group will focus on high-quality services and jointly build the "the Belt and Road", constantly improve the quality and efficiency of the operation of China Europe trains, promote the development of China Europe trains in the direction of higher quality, better efficiency and more security, and provide strong transport service guarantee for China's foreign trade development.

Article source: Shanghai Securities Journal · China Securities Network