(Yicai Global) Jan. 19 -- China's cargo train route linking the Asian country within European nations boosted its traffic by half last year,
rising above 10,000 trips for the first time amid the Covid-19-driven market demand.
The China-Europe Railway Express's number of trips climbed to more than 12,400 from 2019, Zhao Chenxin, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference today.
The demand for supply chain intermediates, as well as
goods in the sectors of electronic products, food, wood, and chemicals, was rising rapidly, Zhao explained. As much as USD50 billion worth of products were transported by the trains last year, a more than sixfold jump from 2016. The volume was 1.1 million twenty-foot units.
The China-Europe Railway Express transported large quantities of personal protective equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Some 76,000 tons of PPE was sent to Europe in 2020, including countries such as Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland.
In the second half of 2020,
about 1,200 trains carried cargo to Europe every month, said Zhao. The monthly figure reached double-digit growth for 10 straight months, he added.
Meanwhile, the route was expanding its reach as the number of foreign cities where the trains stop along the way rose to 92 in 21 countries from 2019's 37 cities. The Chinese cities of Xi'an, Chongqing and Chengdu were particularly popular as more than half of the trains began their journeys from these places.