South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region saw 217 China-Europe freight trains in the first seven months of 2020, up more than 5 times from the same period last year, local customs said.
Aerial photo taken on Jan. 11, 2020 shows the freight trains waiting for departure after they were rejoined at the Nanning South Railway Station in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]
The Pingxiang (railway) Port of Guangxi connects the railways of China and Vietnam. It is an important railway port connecting China with ASEAN. Through Pingxiang Port, goods from Southeast Asia and Europe reach each other by China-Europe freight trains.
In the past, goods from Southeast Asia could only be transported to Europe by Eurasian Land Bridge and sea transportation. Now railways have shortened the transportation time by at least 15 days.
The China-Europe freight train service, a significant part of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, was launched in 2011 and has grown rapidly ever since.