(Photo: Yiwu-Vilnius train)

On the morning of May 4th, "Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe" (YXE) cargo train formally put the 12th international railway for goods transportation into operations for China-Europe trains, as the first "Yiwu-Vilnius" train China Post departed from Yiwu West Railway Station. This indicates that with YXE’s further expansion of its railway lines, another green and efficient railway transportation line has been successfully opened up between China and the Baltic Sea.

This China-Europe train will drive outbound from the Huoerguosi Port, Xinjiang through Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The whole journey is as long as 10,146km. The train is fully loaded with 100 standard containers and 353.77 tons of international mails from Zhejiang Province, Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, Fujian Province, and Shandong Province. After the train arrives in Lithuania, this batch of international mails will be allocated to 36 European countries, including Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, and France.

Situated on the eastern bank of the Baltic Sea, Lithuania is at the intersection of the Asia-Europe traffic corridor and the north-south traffic artery of the Baltic Sea. As one of the new EU member states with the fastest economic growth, it occupies a key and advantageous position in the Asia-Europe logistics chain. 

With the formal operation of the "Yiwu-Vilnius" train, a new solution has been available for transporting international mails under the situation of COVID-19. According to China Post’s mail coordination and collection, the train is scheduled to run on a weekly basis.

Under the background of worldwide collaborative fights against COVID-19, China-Europe trains play roles in building green channels for European countries to promptly obtain medical materials and daily necessities as new international traffic arteries.

From 1st January to 4th May of last year, 133 China (Yiwu)-Europe trains ran altogether and delivered 11,220 standard containers, which increased by 44.1% on a year-on-year basis (including 132 trains departing from Yiwu and delivering 11,154 standard containers, with a year-on-year increase of 65.2%). Since the running of these chains in 2014, YXE has developed 12 China-Europe railway lines. It has established 4 branches and 5 logistics distribution centers along the lines. Connecting 37 countries and areas of the Asia-Europe Continent, its China-Europe railway lines are the longest and cross the most countries.

(Compiled by Ye Ke, Wu Lihua)