Jinan sees strong China-Europe freight train development

The "Qilu" China-Europe freight train was fully loaded and ready to depart on July 3, with trucks busily loading and unloading goods on-site.

According to Wang Hong, director of the port office at the Jinan Municipal Port and Logistics Office, this batch of goods includes clothing, small commodities, and food.

Once fully loaded, the train will depart from Manzhouli Port in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and head directly to Europe.

Jinan has also expanded its product range to include items such as wheat flour, whey powder, and polypropylene, and has signed long-term cooperation agreements with four major clients to secure return cargo in advance, supporting the sustained development of the China-Europe freight train service.

Last year, Jinan launched 1,006 new China-Europe freight trains, making it the first city in Shandong province to exceed 1,000 trains.

On June 7, a fully loaded China-Europe freight train departed from the Dongjia town freight center in Jinan, marking the 10,000th such train since the service first launched in October 2018. This made Shandong the first province to surpass 10,000 trains.

"In recent years, Jinan has accelerated the enhancement of its China-Europe freight train assembly capabilities, increasing the frequency and routes of the trains. We currently operate 15 routes to 49 cities in 22 countries," Wang said.

"By the end of June this year, we had launched a total of 3,826 trains. The integrated transport and trade business of the trains is expected to boost foreign trade growth by over 100 million yuan ($13.76 million) in 2024," Wang added.