The eastern corridor for China-Europe Freight Train service handled over 2,000 train trips from China's northeastern land ports to Central Asia and Europe in the first five months of this year, injecting greater momentum into serving cooperation in high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road.
The China-Europe Freight Train service has three main corridors -- the western corridor, the eastern corridor and the middle corridor.
The eastern corridor handles Europe-bound train trips leaving from railway ports of Manzhouli in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, as well in Suifenhe and Tongjiang of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China.
The eastern corridor now has 27 lines running between over 60 cities in China like Changsha, Chengdu and Suzhou and 14 other countries such as Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, transporting 12 categories of cargo such as electrical products, daily necessities and agricultural and sideline products.
Data show that in the first five months of this year, the number of China-Europe Freight Train trips passing through the eastern corridor accounted for 26.3 percent of the national total, with return trains making up 31.9 percent of the total return train volume.
"Currently, the volume of return trains is relatively high, with an average of about 10 trains arriving each day, leading to a significant increase in our reloading workload. In order to ensure reloading efficiency, we dynamically adjust staffing and handling facilities and strengthen coordination between crane operators and freight personnel, while intensifying maintenance efforts on equipment," said Yang Liang, a staff member at the cargo container yard of the Manzhouli Railway Station.
Since the beginning of this year, competent authorities have accelerated implementation of the projects of renovating and upgrading the Harbin-Suifenhe Railway section from Suifenhe to China's border with Russia, the Jiamusi-Tongjiang Railway and the Harbin-Manzhouli Railway section from Xilingkou to Bugat in neighboring Mongolia. Once completed, these projects will further enhance the efficiency of China-Europe Freight Train service.
"The project of renovating the Harbin-Suifenhe Railway section from Suifenhe to the border involves the construction of a new interlaced track line, which can accommodate trains with different track gauges to run on the same line. The project is expected to be completed within this year, and once the line is opened to traffic, it will significantly increase transportation capacity while also enhancing transportation safety," said Cao Laiqun, manager of the project.
Eastern corridor of China-Europe Freight Train service handles over 2,000 trips in first five months
Eastern corridor of China-Europe Freight Train service handles over 2,000 trips in first five months
The 10th China-Russia Expo opened on Sunday in Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in northeast China, highlighting the resilience, vitality and mutual benefits of China-Russia economic ties.
Held from May 17 to 21, this year's expo covers a floor space of 55,000 square meters, with more than 1,500 companies from 46 countries and regions taking part. Nearly 300 Russian companies are attending, while over 5,000 buyers are expected.
Since 2014, the event has attracted more than 7,200 Chinese and Russian companies and over a million visitors.
The China-Russia Expo is the largest comprehensive exhibition platform between the two countries.
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin each sent congratulatory letters to the event, encouraging all sectors from both countries to seize the opportunity, make full use of their geographical proximity and economic complementarity, and further expand all-round practical cooperation.
"Leaders of the two countries have signed agreements to deepen practical cooperation, which we fully support. Russia and China stand side by side for common development, benefiting young people and all people. Such cooperation is timely and far-reaching. We are here in Harbin for the China-Russia Expo, coming from Russia's Sakha Republic. Our region is dominated by agriculture. We are seeking advanced farming technologies including irrigation equipment and harvesters. We hope to reach deals in the coming days to boost local development," said Vasiliy Petrovich Alexeev, head of Ust-Aidan Region of the Russian Federation.
"We are greatly inspired by the congratulatory letters from the heads of state of China and Russia. We will keep building targeted and efficient cooperation platforms, and smooth channels for sub-national exchanges between China and Russia," said Chen Shijun, president of Heilongjiang Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
China-Russia trade volume has surpassed 200 billion U.S. dollars for three consecutive years. China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 16 years running.
In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade volume hit 60 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of more than 14 percent.
This year's Expo features eight major exhibition zones. Beyond the exhibition halls, Russian delegations have also conducted field visits to Chinese companies. A delegation from the Republic of Buryatia visited one of northeast China's largest building materials distribution centers to explore potential areas of cooperation.
"Regular China-Russia economic and trade events continuously bring fresh cooperation opportunities for both sides. This field trip to Xilong Building Materials Market has helped us explore more practical directions and modes for bilateral cooperation," said Alexei Tsydenov, head of the Republic of Buryatia of the Russian Federation.
"Relying on Buryatia's abundant mineral resources and sound logistics conditions, we plan to build industrial parks focusing on home building materials, mineral resources and energy sectors in Russia. We will introduce advanced Chinese technologies and management models to drive coordinated industrial upgrading between the two countries," said Wu Jinrong, vice president of Harbin Xilong International Trade and Logistics Park.
From everyday consumer goods to advanced helicopters, and from mineral resources to intelligent robotics, China-Russia cooperation now spans a wide range of sectors. Economic ties and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries continue to advance toward higher-quality development and broader prospects.
China-Russia Expo promotes trust, cooperation, mutual benefit
