Serving High-Quality BRI Cooperation to Promote Eurasian Economic and Trade Exchanges

　　A senior official from CR's Freight Department stated that CR earnestly implements President Xi Jinping's important directives on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and his series of instructions concerning CRE trains. Adhering to the principles of principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, CR strengthens coordination and cooperation domestically and internationally, accelerates the construction of efficient transport systems, diversified corridors, innovative development frameworks and security assurance mechanisms for the CRE trains. These efforts continuously drive the service towards higher quality, better efficiency and greater safety, injecting new momentum to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, advance China's high-level opening-up, and ensure stable and smooth international supply chains.

　　The corridor network is gradually improving, with CRE train services now covering almost the entire Eurasian continent. The Eurasian rail transport network is becoming increasingly dense. Domestically, three corridors—western, central and eastern—have been developed to attract cargo sources from different directions. Abroad, a parallel "north-central-south" route pattern has been formed. In recent years, extensive trial operations have been conducted on the southern CRE train corridor, opening new routes into Europe. Meanwhile, CR has held comprehensive negotiations with the railway authorities of countries along the routes on transport organization and pricing, promoting diversified development of overseas corridors. The external corridor network for CRE trains is becoming increasingly smooth, efficient, multidirectional and integrated with sea and land transport. Currently, 128 cities across China operate CRE trains, reaching 229 cities in 26 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries. Port handling capacity continues to expand. Capacity enhancement and renovation projects have been completed at major border ports including Alataw Pass, Horgos Port, Erenhot Railway Port, Manzhouli and Suifenhe, and the new Tongjiang North Port has been built and put into operation, greatly improving throughput capability. The daily handover capacity of the six major ports has reached 184 trains, providing strong support for expanding CRE operations. A preliminary international multimodal transport corridor pattern has been established. Regarding sea-rail intermodal transport, new international routes through the Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea and Black Sea have been developed westwards, while seamless connections have been achieved eastwards with the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the Yangtze River golden waterway and coastal ports. There are now 28 scheduled CRE train routes originating from coastal ports such as Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao and Lianyungang. Regarding road-rail intermodal transport, services like the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan train have been successively launched, effectively relieving traffic pressure at railway border ports such as Alataw Pass and Horgos Port.

　　Transport organization has been continuously optimized as CRE train capacity and efficiency improve constantly. Innovative development in transport modes has been achieved. Based on the characteristics of domestic and international transport organizations for CRE trains, the maximum train length at 120 km/h speeds has been increased to 55 wagons, and the maximum traction load to 3,000 tons. Customs clearance facilitation continues to advance. The 95306 "Digital Port" system has been put into operation, allowing border stations to process customs procedures in advance according to domestic and overseas departure information, greatly improving clearance efficiency. Close cooperation with customs authorities has optimized the railway "fast clearance" model, reducing clearance time from about half a day to less than 30 minutes, with the fastest clearance taking only a few minutes. Cargo sourcing is more efficient. Fourteen regional CRE train consolidation centers have been established domestically, accelerating the formation of an efficient "trunk and branch, hub and distribution" collection and distribution system and building internationally influential modern logistics hubs. Currently, trains operated through these consolidation centers account for 88% of the national total. CR's subsidiary CRCT has successively established overseas branches in Kazakhstan, Germany, Russia and other countries, deepening pragmatic cooperation with local railways, logistics providers, ports and freight forwarders to jointly organize and develop two-way cargo flows. The number of outbound and return CRE trains is now basically balanced, with a comprehensive full container load rate stabilized near 100%.

　　With upgraded service capacity, CRE train's overall competitiveness has been strengthened. Scheduled full-route CRE trains have been launched. Scheduled full-route CRE trains have been launched innovatively both domestically and internationally. Currently, 17 scheduled trains operate weekly with stable service. These scheduled trains reduce full-route transit time by over 30% compared to regular trains, and the average cargo value per container is 41% higher than ordinary CRE trains. Product offerings have become more diversified. Building on traditional bulk goods and daily commodities trains, targeted supply chain logistics solutions have been provided for specialized cargo transport needs, launching dedicated trains for international postal services, cross-border e-commerce, cold chain food and commercial vehicles. These cater to diverse, personalized and refined market demands of enterprises along the route. The range of transported goods continues to expand. CRE trains now carry goods in 53 categories, over 50,000 varieties. High-value goods such as automobiles and parts, machinery and electronic equipment have become the main export cargo, accounting for over 60% of shipments in 2024. Rail transport safety challenges for new energy vehicles and consumer lithium batteries have been successfully resolved, enabling China's "new three" manufacturing products, namely new energy vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products, to reach the world via CRE trains. Customer experience has continually enhanced. A total of 131 container return yards have been established in 17 overseas countries, covering most CRE train overseas nodes to facilitate container returns for customers. A CRE train customer service center has been set up, alongside the launch of the CRE train portal website, creating a "one-stop" comprehensive service platform that covers demand submission, contract signing, container pick-up and return, customs declaration and inspection. It provides global customers with full-process insurance, cargo tracking, electronic seal locking, IoT-enabled containers and other specialized services to meet diverse client needs.

　　With increasingly evident radiating effect, the CRE train has injected new momentum into the economic and social development of countries along its routes. The regional openness pattern has been optimized. The CRE trains run east-west and connect internal and external regions, opening new channels of openness for the Eurasian inland area and helping countries and regions along the route better integrate into the open global economy. The China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, an important part of the Silk Road Economic Belt, links China's Bohai Economic Rim with Europe's economic zone. Leveraging the CRE train network, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has connected supply chains for agricultural and livestock products such as wheat and beef to cities including Moscow, Khorgos and Yekaterinburg. It has accelerated the aggregation and export of local agricultural products like sunflower seeds and dehydrated vegetables, organized imports of zinc concentrate, copper concentrate and sunflower kernels, and improved the development level of its export-oriented economy. Eurasian economic and trade exchanges have expanded. The CRE trains provide more convenient trade conditions for countries along the route. "Made in China" consumer electronics, home appliances and daily small commodities reach Europe faster and at better prices, while specialty products from Asian and European countries such as Spanish wine, Dutch cheese, Polish apples, Thai durian and Laotian bananas enter the daily lives of Chinese consumers, opening broad market space for Eurasian trade exchanges. Living standards along the route have improved. The rapid development of CRE trains has stimulated growth in industry, trade, investment and more. Railways, freight forwarding and logistics enterprises along the route have gained more stable and increased income, and people in these countries have gained more employment opportunities and sources of income. Major CRE train destinations including ？ód？ in Poland, Duisburg in Germany and Madrid in Spain have actively modernized local infrastructure, boosting the rapid growth of related industries. The Ulanqab-Erenhot international logistics hub, relying on CRE trains, has transformed the corridor economy into an industrial economy, creating a cross-border logistics network centered on rail, attracting clusters of industries such as auto parts and wood processing, and achieving a virtuous cycle of "promoting trade through logistics and gathering industries through trade." Cultural exchanges along the route have deepened. CRE trains offer more opportunities for cultural communication and integration between China and Europe. In May 2025, the launch of the China (Xi'an) to Central Asia (Almaty) international cultural freight train linked the historical and cultural heritage of China and Kazakhstan, opening a new era of cultural exchange and becoming a "moving cultural corridor." Products rich in Chinese cultural elements such as ceramics, tea, stage props and cultural exhibits have travelled abroad via the CRE trains, showcasing Chinese culture to the world.

　　The official stated that CR will continue to implement the Eight Actions for High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation, uphold the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and win-win cooperation, and promote CRE trains towards higher quality, better efficiency and greater safety, providing strong transport service support to promote Eurasian economic and trade exchanges and serve high-level opening-up.