The number of freight train journeys between China and Europe via the Eastern Corridor has reached a record high this year, while the assortment of transported goods is increasingly shifting towards more expensive and technologically complex products.
By Friday, the corridor had processed 6,024 trips this year, which is 40.3% more than last year. This marked the first time that annual traffic through the corridor exceeded the 6,000 trip mark.
This corridor includes three main railway ports: in Manchzhouli, Suifenhe, and Tunzian. It connects over 60 Chinese cities with 14 European countries.
According to the Shijiazhuang Customs, in the first quarter of this year, the International Land Port of Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, northern China, served 1,023 China-Europe freight trains and handled 103,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for import and export. These figures increased by 27.4% and 26% respectively compared to the same period last year, reaching record highs for that period.
As a major hub for China-Europe freight trains in northern China, the Shijiazhuang port now manages 27 regular routes connecting over 50 Asian and European countries and regions.
The composition of cargo at the port has also changed: it has shifted from daily consumer goods and textile materials to higher value-added products, including electronics, photovoltaic products, and high-end equipment, reflecting the growing significance of technologically intensive and costly goods in Chinese exports.
Meanwhile, Shanghai's foreign trade also reached a record level during the first three quarters. According to Shanghai Customs, the city's ports handled goods worth 10.35 trillion yuan (US$1.5 trillion) during this period, which is 23.7% more than last year. This amount accounted for 25.9% of China's total foreign trade, keeping Shanghai's ports in the number one position in the country.