China-Europe freight train hub launches in city

A China-Europe freight train loaded with 55 containers departed from the Shenyang Puhe Logistics Base to Russia on March 4, marking the launch of the China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) Hub in the capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province.

The containers carried more than 100 types of goods including auto parts, mechanical equipment, electronic products, medical equipment and daily necessities. The average value of each box exceeded $90,000.

The launch of the hub is of great significance to accelerating the construction of the land-sea corridor in Northeast China and promoting high-level opening-up to the outside world.

On Sept 9, 2017, the China-Europe freight train from Shenyang to Duisburg, Germany, was launched. For more than five years, China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) has adhered to high-quality development and achieved fruitful results, forming a resilient international logistics supply chain, creating a new Asia-Europe international transportation channel and building a key platform for cooperation.

As of February, the China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) has operated a total of 2,149 trains, ranking first in Northeast China and seventh nationwide. From 2018 to 2022, the annual number of trains increased from 168 to 627, with an average annual growth rate of 39 percent. The heavy container rate remained at 100 percent, ranking first in the country. The China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) opened passages to Manzhouli, Suifenhe, Erenhot, Alashanko and Khorgos ports over a span of three and a half years. It has set up 10 overseas terminal stations including Hamburg, Duisburg and Moscow and the goods are shipped to some 50 cities in more than 20 countries around the world.

The China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) boasts multimodal transport that reduces costs and increases efficiency. It has cooperated with Dalian, Yingkou, Weihai, Qingdao, Humen and other coastal cities in the collection and distribution of multimodal transport of goods by railway and sea, providing one-stop door-to-door and station-to-station services.

It carries out new services such as train plus cross-border e-commerce, train plus comprehensive bonded zones and train plus cold chain products. It also innovates the cooperation model between the customs and railway departments of the hub.

Shenyang Customs has deepened the reform of direct connection between districts and ports, implemented the supervision method of multipoint inspection and centralized delivery and provided services such as "one-time arrival, one declaration, one loading and unloading, and one inspection and release".

Shenyang and Sinotrans have continued to deepen cooperation in key tasks such as increasing the number of trains, expanding operating routes and forming a strong joint force for the high-quality development of China-Europe trains.

The opening of the China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) has accelerated the accumulation of logistics, businesses and capital flows, forming an industrial ecosystem and making good contributions to the city's accelerated construction of a new pattern of high-level opening-up.

The China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) has served more than 2,000 domestic and foreign companies and attracted more than 10 logistics and trading companies to invest in the city, with an average annual import and export value of more than $200 million.

Shenyang has established sister city relations with 23 cities in 18 countries and has established trade relations with more than 220 countries and regions around the world.

In the next step, China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) will adhere to the high-quality development, promote the operation of the hub with high standards, strive to create a national assembly center, and achieve new breakthroughs in promoting high-level opening-up. It aims to surpass 1,000 trains by 2025, maintaining the top position in Northeast China.

At the same time, relying on the hub, the city is speeding up the construction of the Shenyang International Land Port, with a planned area of 18 square kilometers.

It will focus on the development of industries such as intelligent food manufacturing, timber trading, modern logistics, bulk commodity trading, automobiles and parts and advanced equipment manufacturing.

This year, it plans to invest 1.5 billion yuan ($216 million) to start the construction of the land port's infrastructure including a train dispatching center and the production and trade center for grain, oil and food.