Li Feng, a train driver in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, has witnessed the rapid growth of the China-Europe freight train service, which reached a major milestone with the arrival of its 100,000th freight train in Duisburg, Germany in December last year.
Li had the honor of serving as the driver of the 100,000th China-Europe freight train, a milestone trip that marked a major achievement in the service's rapid expansion.
The train, fully loaded with a diverse array of goods, including electronic products, vehicles and auto parts, mechanical components and household appliances, arrived in Duisburg in just over 10 days.
"Our duty is to ensure the safe, smooth, and on-time delivery of goods to our destination, where the next section's driver will take over and continue the journey. This process is carried out in relay, with each driver handing off to the next, until the China-Europe freight train reaches its final overseas destination," said Li. In March 2011, the China-Europe freight train service was launched from Chongqing to Duisburg, establishing a direct overland trade corridor between China and Europe.
Over the past 13 years, the service has transported over 11 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) containers of goods, valued at more than 420 billion U.S. dollars. The variety of goods transported has also greatly diversified, growing from a few categories like electronics to over 53 categories and more than 50,000 types of products.
The China-Europe freight train service now carries a growing range of high-tech and high-value goods, such as new energy vehicles, lithium batteries and solar panels, to global markets.
"The volume and variety of goods transported by the China-Europe freight trains have significantly increased, including products such as vehicles and lithium batteries for electric vehicles," said Li.
Li is proud to have witnessed key milestones in the service's development, following in the footsteps of his mentor Jiang Tong, who drove the first China-Europe freight train.
"My mentor operated the first China-Europe freight train, while I operated the 100,000th. I believe that the journey from the first train to over 100,000 trains fully demonstrates the international recognition of 'Made in China' products," said Li.
So far, the China-Europe freight train network has expanded to 227 cities in 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries.
Train driver witnesses rapid development of China-Europe freight train service
