Xinjiang expects 1,400 Europe-bound trains this year

Away went the freight train with a long whistle on Friday. It was the 332nd freight train departing from the Urumqi International Inland Port Zone to Europe this year, Xinjiang Daily reported.

The number of China-Europe freight trains departing from the inland port zone from January to April was 1.5 times of the total number in 2016, Ma Chunlei, an official of Urumqi Economic and Technology Development Zone, said.

The inland port zone in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region saw 700 China-Europe freight trains heading westbound from the city last year and it is confident that a total of 1,400 China-Europe freight trains will depart from the zone this year, Liu Shaohua, an official working at the inland port zone, said.

Supported by the convenience of logistics featuring China-Europe freight trains, the inland port zone is becoming an open economic transformation and upgrading demonstration area, according to Ma.

The zone now offers one-stop service that includes custom clearing, inspection and quarantine, railway port, comprehensive free trade area and transportation assembly center.

Luo Hua, a manager working at Kemen Noodle Manufacturing Co Ltd, a food processing enterprise established in the zone this year, said the company values Xinjiang's advantages under the Belt and Road Initiatives.

More than 40 cross-border e-commerce enterprises, trade and logistic enterprises and food processing and commodity processing enterprises have been introduced in the zone, with an aggregated registered capital of more than 2 billion yuan.

The trade volume of cross-border e-commerce enterprises now reaches $7 million, with an average monthly growth rate of more than 20 percent.

With trade volume increasing between China and European countries in recent years, Urumqi has started to offer "point-to-point" customized services to cut transport costs and time.