On September 3, X8151, a China-Europe Railway Express train loaded with automotive components, plush toys, and household goods, slowly departed from Xi’an International Port Station operated by China Railway Xi’an Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Xi’an Railway), heading west toward Duisburg, Germany. Since the beginning of 2026, the total number of China-Europe Railway Express services operated from Xi’an has exceeded 4,000, reaching this milestone nearly one week earlier than the same period last year, with a year-on-year increase of 3%. Freight volumes have remained at a high level.
As one of China’s major China-Europe Railway Express consolidation centers, Xi’an has ranked first nationwide in several key indicators, including the number of train services, freight volume, and loaded-container ratio, for eight consecutive years. On average, one China-Europe Railway Express train departs from or arrives in Xi’an every 80 minutes. The China-Europe Railway Express has established a smooth two-way international trade corridor connecting China’s “global exports” with “global imports,” providing continuous railway momentum for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Developing the Southern Trans-Caspian Corridor to Strengthen Cross-Border Supply Chain Resilience
At the end of April 2026, China Railway completed its capital contribution to Multimodal Cooperation Management (MCM), marking its deeper participation in the multilateral governance of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. This represents a shift from being a corridor participant to becoming a participant in its multilateral governance, laying an institutional foundation for the large-scale operation of the Trans-Caspian multimodal transport corridor.
The southern Trans-Caspian multimodal corridor integrates multiple modes of transportation, including railways and Caspian Sea ferry services. It connects the Caucasus, the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions, as well as destinations deep within Europe, providing China-Europe Railway Express services with more diversified routing options. According to statistics, more than 600 trains have used the southern corridor so far this year, an increase of 82% year on year. More than half of these trains originated from Xi’an, making the city the most important hub for the southern corridor.
As one of the most important departure hubs in China for the Trans-Caspian multimodal transport corridor, Xi’an Railway makes full use of the advantages of its consolidation center. China-Europe Railway Express services are provided with priority in five key areas: access, train formation, departure, release, and delivery. Internal terminal handling time has been reduced to less than six hours.
In the past, one of the biggest challenges of the Trans-Caspian route was the lack of transparent shipment tracking after trains left China, making it difficult to monitor cargo movements. Xi’an Railway, together with China Railway Container Transport Co., Ltd., has established overseas service points at the Altynkol dry port and Aktau Port in Kazakhstan through its Kazakhstan subsidiary. A Trans-Caspian shipment tracking information system has also been launched, enabling full-chain tracking covering domestic departure, border transshipment, Caspian Sea shipping, and overseas railway transportation, eliminating information gaps during overseas transportation.
“In the past, once a train left China, when customers asked where their cargo was, we could only tell them that it was in transit overseas. Now, customers can check the train’s current station, loading status, and even weather conditions in the Caspian Sea directly through a webpage in China,” recalled Dai Hansheng, General Manager of the Kazakhstan subsidiary of China Railway Container Transport Co., Ltd. With greater shipment visibility combined with optimized transportation organization, transit efficiency in Kazakhstan has improved by more than 100%.
Chinese Goods Travel Smoothly Along the Silk Road, Creating a Fast Logistics Route to Global Markets
A diversified transportation network provides a solid foundation for Chinese manufacturers to expand into overseas markets.
During the summer, many European countries experienced prolonged extreme heat, driving a sharp increase in demand for cooling and heat-relief products. At Xi’an International Port Station, batches of Chinese-made air conditioners and electric fans were efficiently loaded into containers and shipped by China-Europe Railway Express services to 15 European countries. As of August 24, China-Europe Railway Express (Xi’an) had transported more than 34,000 air conditioners, electric fans, and other cooling appliances to Europe since the beginning of the year, creating a “cooling corridor” connecting Asia and Europe. Compared with the approximately 40-day transit time by sea, China-Europe Railway Express can deliver cargo to Mannheim, Germany, in as little as 12 days, allowing exporters to better capture overseas sales opportunities.
“The train departs this week, and these air-conditioning products can be placed on shelves in Mannheim next week. This has greatly enhanced our competitiveness in the European market,” said Zhang Xiao, Executive Deputy General Manager of Xi’an International Port Group Duolian Company. To ensure the efficient transportation of urgent orders for cooling appliances, Xi’an Railway and 15 organizations at Xi’an Chanba International Port established a joint mechanism for problem-solving and coordinated operations. This reduced the cargo consolidation and distribution time from 8.5 days to 3.3 days, with the entire operational process completed in as little as 24 hours.
Relying on three regularly operated full-route timetable services, Xi’an has established a scheduled operating pattern of six westbound and three eastbound services per week. The fastest China-Europe Railway Express service from Xi’an to Duisburg can arrive in 12 days, while the transit time to Budapest has been reduced to less than 11 days. Transit times are approximately 70% shorter than sea freight, while transportation costs are only around one-fifth of air freight. High-efficiency and cost-effective logistics services have made China-Europe Railway Express an increasingly preferred option for many foreign trade enterprises.
While strengthening its main hub, Xi’an is also continuing to develop its “one main hub plus multiple auxiliary hubs” network, helping manufacturers across Shaanxi access overseas markets from nearby locations. On August 25, the first China-Europe Railway Express service from Baoji to Nizhny Novgorod departed from the Yangping Railway Logistics Base in Baoji, carrying automotive chassis components, engine parts, braking system components, and other products manufactured in Baoji directly to automobile factories in Russia.
New energy vehicles have also become an important cargo category for China-Europe Railway Express services. In August, XPeng vehicles were shipped to Europe in batches via China-Europe Railway Express (Xi’an). Relying on a four-stage end-to-end logistics service covering on-site vehicle collection, professional container loading, cross-border transportation via full-route timetable services, and overseas last-mile distribution, the company has established a one-stop logistics model from factory production lines to European dealerships. To date, China-Europe Railway Express (Xi’an) has provided services to more than 40 automobile manufacturers, including BYD, Geely, SAIC Motor, and Chery. Xi’an International Port has become an important inland gateway for the export of Chinese-branded vehicles. The cargo portfolio of China-Europe Railway Express has now expanded to nine major categories and more than 200 product types. High-value-added goods, including new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic components—the so-called “new three” export products—automotive components, and consumer appliances, continue to be shipped overseas.
Balanced Westbound and Eastbound Services Strengthen Xi’an as an Inland Hub for Global Imports
If westbound trains tell the story of Chinese goods “going global,” the steady flow of eastbound trains demonstrates the hub value of China-Europe Railway Express in bringing products from around the world into China. From January to July this year, eastbound services accounted for 55.9% of China-Europe Railway Express (Xi’an) operations, further consolidating a balanced pattern of fully loaded westbound and eastbound services. Xi’an has now become a key inland hub for distributing high-quality products from around the world to the Chinese market.
In addition to rapeseed oil from Russia, flour, edible oils and grains from Kazakhstan, minerals and specialty agricultural products from Central Asia, and machinery and equipment components from Europe are continuously transported to Xi’an via eastbound China-Europe Railway Express services. Relying on 26 domestic consolidation and distribution routes and five secondary distribution hubs, Xi’an rapidly sorts and organizes imported bulk commodities, industrial raw materials, and consumer goods before distributing them to manufacturing enterprises and consumer markets across the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and central and western regions of China. The overall cost of return-trip cargo distribution has been reduced by more than 10%.
Going forward, Xi’an Railway will continue to accelerate the development of the Xi’an China-Europe Railway Express consolidation center, strengthen the “one main hub plus multiple auxiliary hubs” network, and provide continued railway support for Shaanxi’s development as an inland hub for reform and opening up and for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative. (Source: Workers’ Daily Client; Correspondents Li Tao, Qi Chao, Hua Sha, Wang Siqi; Reporters Mao Nongxi and Zhu Pan)
