China has sent the first train as part of a new freight line to Europe via Azerbaijan, Report informs, citing the Beijing branch of the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
The train consists of 104 standard containers loaded with auto spare parts and mechanical equipment worth more than 15 million yuan (about $2.09 million).
According to the corporation, the train departed from a station in Beijing's Fangshan District yesterday.
As noted, the train will pass through the Khorgos checkpoint in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and go to the Caspian port of Aktau in Kazakhstan. Then the cargo will be delivered by sea to the port of Alat in Azerbaijan, and from there by rail to Baku.
The route is implemented according to the multimodal scheme railway, sea, rail. The total length of the route is more than 8,000 km, and the delivery time will be about 15 days. After arriving in Baku, part of the containers will be forwarded to Georgia, Türkiye, Serbia and other countries in the region.
According to Wang Chuanmeng, General Director of Fanshan International Land Port Management Company, the route is part of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, Middle Corridor), which is the southern branch of the China-Europe global transport network.
"The use of the multimodal principle allows us to significantly reduce delivery times compared to traditional maritime logistics and expand the geography of coverage, including the Caspian region, the Black Sea and Mediterranean basin countries, as well as Central, Eastern and Western Europe," Chuanmeng said.
The China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. said that the opening of the new route creates a convenient and efficient logistics channel for enterprises in Beijing and surrounding regions. This will reduce logistics costs, increase export potential, and strengthen China's trade and economic relations with Azerbaijan and other countries in the region.