A crane loads containers at the Manzhouli Railway Station in Manzhouli, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, April 13, 2020. Manzhouli, the largest land port on the China-Russia border, saw a rising number of China-Europe freight trains during the first quarter this year. The number of freight trains that ran between China and Europe via Manzhouli went up 8 percent year on year to 591, transporting a total of 52,947 standard containers of cargo in the period. (Xinhua/Yu Jia)

Foreign trade volume by railway through Manzhouli, the largest land port on the China-Russia border, exceeded 10 million tonnes in the first half of this year, up 6.4 percent year on year, according to official figures.

About 8.25 million tonnes of goods were imported by train via Manzhouli from January to June while the export volume was 1.79 million tonnes, said the Manzhouli railway station under China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd Monday.

Major commodities involved coal, iron concentrate, chemical fertilizer, wood and large-scale construction machinery.

A total of 1,505 China-Europe freight trains passed through the port in the first half, an increase of 19 percent compared with the same period last year, carrying 134,700 TEUs of goods in total.

The China-Europe rail routes have become an important transport channel for stabilizing global trade and recovering production amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities in Manzhouli port have facilitated customs clearance to increase efficiency and help enterprises reduce logistics and transportation costs.