A responsible official from the CR's Freight Department explained that in 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the "Belt and Road" Initiative (BRI), giving birth to the CRE train, which has since grown and expanded. In 2016, the CRE Train unified its brand, entering a new phase of standardized operations and rapid development. CR has thoroughly implemented President Xi Jinping's important discussions on co-building BRI and his series of instructions on the CRE train, adhering to the principles of joint consultation, co-construction and shared benefits. CR has strengthened domestic and international coordination and cooperation, and accelerated the construction of an efficient transport system, a diverse channel system, an innovative development system and a security assurance system for the CRE train. These efforts have continuously improved the quality and efficiency of operations, strongly supporting the stability of international industrial and supply chains. This has injected new momentum into the high-quality joint construction of the BRI and added new momentum to China's higher-standard opening up. In recent years, the CRE train has consolidated its advantages in convenience, safety, stability, green development and affordability, becoming a widely popular international public product. The number of trains has continued to grow robustly. From 2016, when the brand was unified, to 2023, the annual number of trains increased from 1,702 to more than 17,000—nearly a tenfold increase. The time needed to reach 10,000 trains has been shortened from 90 months in the early days to just 6 months today. Since March of this year, the number of trains operated per month has consistently exceeded 1,600 for the past eight months.
The network of routes expanded, evolving from a single line to a network; the CRE train service network covers most of Asia and Europe. The domestic channel capacity has been steadily enhanced. A batch of railway corridor gap-filling projects have been implemented, such as the capacity expansion and renovation of the Benhong-Erenhot section of the Jining-Erenhot Railway, the addition of a second track on the Jinghe-Alashankou section of the Lanzhou-Urumqi High Speed Railway, the Suifenhe-border section of Harbin-Suifenhe Railway and Jiamusi-Tongjiang Railway. Furthermore, the development of demonstration projects for CRE train aggregation centers in Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an and Urumqi has provided essential infrastructure support for the high-quality operation of the CRE train. Currently, the railway authority has established 93 dedicated routes for scheduled CRE train trains domestically, operating at speeds of 120 km/h, connecting 125 cities across China. The capacity at border crossings has significantly increased. Projects such as the expansion and upgrading of border stations at Alataw Pass, Horgos Port, Manzhouli and Erenhot Railway Port have improved border customs clearance and train formation efficiency. After the completion of a new comprehensive inspection yard at Alashankou Railway Station in September, the station's standard-gauge and broad-gauge transport capacities were increased by 15% and 30%, respectively. The number of CRE train trains entering and leaving China via the six major border crossings—Alataw Pass, Horgos Port, Erenhot Railway Port, Manzhouli, Suifenhe and Tongjiang—has continued to rise steadily. The international corridor network is becoming increasingly comprehensive. While consolidating and stabilizing the existing major European entry routes, efforts have been made to expand the Southern Corridor with regular CRE trains on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. On July 1st of this year, a "daily train" schedule was introduced for this route. The international corridor network for CRE train trains is evolving into a "smooth, efficient, multi-directional and sea-rail interconnected" structure. The CRE train not only connects China with Western Europe and countries along the route but also links Eastern countries through methods such as sea-rail intermodal transport and the China-Laos Railway, reaching East Asian countries like South Korea and Japan, as well as Southeast Asian nations like Vietnam, Thailand and others. In the West, it connects to the United Kingdom, Nordic countries and countries along the Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts such as Romania and Italy via Baltic Sea, Black Se, and Mediterranean Sea sea-rail intermodal transport as well as Rhine River rail-water intermodal transport. Currently, the CRE train reaches 227 cities in 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, with its network covering nearly the entire Eurasian continent.
Transport organization has been optimized, with operational quality steadily improving and market competitiveness for the CRE train significantly enhancing. Transport rules have achieved "soft connectivity." In 2017, under the advocacy and promotion of the CR, two coordination mechanisms were established: the Domestic CRE train Transport Coordination Committee and the CRE train Transport Joint Working Group, consisting of seven countries. These mechanisms have evolved into a cooperative platform for the development of the CRE train, where all parties involved, both domestically and internationally, engage in joint consultation, co-construction and shared benefits. This platform has played a crucial role in improving transportation efficiency, reducing logistics costs and ensuring transport safety, significantly promoting "soft connectivity" of international railway transport rules. Currently, the return-to-outbound ratio for the CRE train exceeds 84%, with the service operating "7 trains out, 6 trains back" each week, ensuring a balanced bi-directional schedule. Transport models have achieved innovative development. Based on the characteristics of domestic and international transport organizations for the CRE train, the maximum number of wagons per train and the hauling capacity for trains operating at 120 km/h have been increased to 55 wagons and 3,000 tons, respectively. This has resulted in an average single-train capacity increase of over 34% compared to the initial operation. Strengthening coordination with customs and other port supervision authorities, the CR has developed and implemented the 95306 digital port system, promoting the fast clearance mode for railway customs, and significantly improving port clearance efficiency and convenience. Additionally, new technologies such as BeiDou Navigation Satellite System positioning and 5G are being applied, with the development and promotion of railway electronic seals with functions like tamper alarms and location tracking, as well as full-process insurance for the CRE train, ensuring the safe and stable operation of the trains. Cargo categories have significantly increased. The number of cargo categories for the CRE train has increased to 53 major categories, encompassing over 50,000 types of goods. Particularly, the proportion of high-tech and high-value-added products has been rising annually. For example, at the Erenhot Railway Port, over 40% of the exported goods on the CRE train are high-value items such as automobiles, machinery, mobile phones and computers. The annual transportation value of goods via the CRE train has grown from $8 billion in 2016 to $56.7 billion in 2023. As of this year, the transport value has already reached $58 billion.
Product supply and service capabilities have been continuously optimized and upgraded, with CRE train becoming a powerful international logistics brand with strong reach, influence and driving force. Innovative operation of the full-process schedule-based CRE train has been achieved. Under the strong promotion of CR, an innovative full-process schedule-based CRE train service was launched in October 2022. Based on market demand, the service has gradually expanded and currently operates 17 trains per week, including routes from Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Yiwu, Wuhan and Guangzhou to Duisburg in Germany and Lodz and Warsaw in Poland. The service is organized with "passenger-like" operations both domestically and internationally, ensuring stable and predictable transport timelines. This has been well-received by customers, attracting a large number of high-value goods, with the average value per container increasing by 41% compared to regular CRE train services. A diversified product system has been built. To closely align with market demand, the CR has optimized the supply of train products and introduced customized services for enterprises. The CRE train now offers specialized services, serving new energy vehicles, postal supplies, cross-border e-commerce, timber, tea and cold chain logistics. These products provide customers with high-quality international logistics services. Significant progress has been made in R&D, successfully addressing safety challenges in transporting new energy vehicles and consumer lithium batteries by rail. "Made in China" products such as new energy vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products are now being transported on the CRE train, making their way to global markets. Customer service has been continuously optimized. The CR has established 107 railway container return points in 14 countries along the CRE train route, providing convenience for customers to return containers. A dedicated customer service center has been set up, and the official CRE train website was launched, creating an integrated "one-stop" service platform for demand submission, contract signing, container pickup and return, customs declaration and inspection. This platform offers round-the-clock, multi-language services and provides global customers with full-process insurance, cargo tracking, electronic seals and IoT-enabled containers, continuously meeting customer needs. Since the website launched a year ago, it has accumulated over 18.88 million visits, with an average of over 52,000 daily visits and a peak daily visit count of 220,000.
New channels for Asia-Europe open cooperation have been opened, with increasing radiating effects, as the CRE train injects strong momentum into the economic and social development of countries along the route. Higher-standard opening-up in inland regions has been promoted. The rapid development of the CRE train has created new platforms for economic and trade cooperation along the route, helping related countries and regions integrate more effectively into the open world economy and greatly enhancing the well-being of local populations. The CRE train has strongly driven the opening-up of inland cities in China. Some inland cities, which are neither coastal nor border cities, have relied on the CRE train to gradually become new hubs for opening up. As the largest CRE train hub in Inner Mongolia, Ulanqab has launched 22 CRE routes, promoting local logistics, trade and industrial development relying on exports and imports, becoming a new engine for economic growth. The number of CRE train trains from Ganzhou has steadily increased, significantly boosting the "cargo capacity" of Ganzhou International Land Port, which has supported the rapid growth of the furniture industry cluster in Nankang District. The annual output value has risen from 10 billion yuan before the port's establishment to 270 billion yuan in 2023. A fast-track trade channel for China-Europe trade has been built. The CRE train has enabled more "Made in China" products, such as electronic products, home appliances and new energy vehicles, to reach Europe more quickly and at better prices, benefiting European consumers while also opening a new trade route for European manufacturers and traders to enter the Chinese market. CRE train services from cities like Jinan and Qingdao have provided essential support for foreign trade activities of key enterprises such as Haier, Hisense and Shandong Heavy Industry, serving over 20,000 import-export companies, shipping more than 840,000 TEUs and exceeding 100 billion yuan in import-export value. Poland has a long history of apple cultivation, and the CRE train has facilitated the export of Polish apples to China. While sea freight requires 40 days, the CRE train delivers these apples to China in just 14 days. In 2023, the value of apples imported from Poland to China increased by 23.2% year on year. The economic and social development in regions along the route has been driven. The CRE train has also fostered the emergence of new logistics, industrial and trade centers, as well as industrial parks, providing numerous job opportunities for local residents. Duisburg, Germany, has attracted hundreds of logistics companies to settle in the area due to the CRE train, creating more than 20,000 jobs. As an important port city on the CRE train route, Erenhot has seen its logistics industry rise rapidly, driven by the development of the rail service. This has promoted the growth of related service industries such as warehousing, transportation and freight forwarding, accelerating the optimization and upgrading of the local industrial structure.
According to the responsible official, CR will continue to implement the eight key actions for the high-quality co-construction of BRI, adhering to the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit. The CRE train will continue to evolve toward higher quality, better efficiency and greater safety, providing robust transportation support for China's foreign trade development and contributing to the country's higher-standard opening-up.
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