China-Europe freight trains 'Chang'an' operate despite epidemic

The China-Europe freight trains named "Chang'an" in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have seen steady operations over the past two months despite the coronavirus epidemic.

As of Sunday (February 23), a total of 311 train trips have been made this year, 1.9 times the number in the same period last year. Among these trains, 95 were bound for Central Asian countries and 84 were bound for Europe, while 35 and 97 returned from the two directions respectively, according to the Shaanxi provincial government.

These train trips have transported a total of 146,000 tons of goods, 1.8 times as much as the same period last year.

The normal operations of the freight trains have benefited foreign trade companies amid the COVID-19 epidemic. Shaanxi Siying Electronic Technology Company, a local company specialized in computer software development and LCD production, is just one of them, which is now manufacturing orders from Kazakhstan.

"We have to transfer in Dubai if the goods are transported by sea, which takes about one month to reach Kazakhstan. Thanks to the fast transportation by China-European freight trains, our customers are satisfied with us in terms of the delivery time," said Feng Jianjun, general manager of the company.

After the virus outbreak, a "green channel" was established in time under the coordination of several different traffic departments to ensure that the container trucks can drive to the Xi'an Port directly without any delay.

All the trucks have been carefully disinfected and the drivers have to have their body temperature checked before entering the port.

"Not only has this improved the transportation efficiency, it has also helped to effectively prevent the spread of virus," said Su Guofeng, deputy director of the Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park Administrative Committee.

Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi, was known as Chang'an in ancient times. It is the starting point of the Silk Road – an ancient land trade route that ran through northwest China's Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang, and Central and Western Asia, before reaching the Mediterranean.

The city launched its first China-Europe freight train in November 2013. Currently, there are 13 China-Europe transport routes starting from Xi'an, which run through major countries along the Silk Road.

(Shaanxi Radio and TV Station contributes to this report. )