A China-Europe freight train carrying medical supplies bound for Madrid of Spain departs the city of Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province, June 5, 2020. Photo:Xinhua

The Yiwu-Madrid railway route has seen more freight trips than in 2019 after the route has proved itself as a logistics alternative guaranteeing trade and the industrial supply chain during the coronavirus pandemic.

Train X8074 left Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday for Minsk, the capital of Belarus with 100 containers including daily necessities and other freight such as Christmas decorations on Wednesday afternoon. 

X8074 was the 529th train on the Yiwu-Madrid freight route in 2020, exceeding the number in all of 2019.

From January 1 to September 2, the Yiwu-Madrid freight route shipped 43,802 containers, a year-on-year increase of 186.5 percent.

Since June the route has set a daily record of six trains, with a monthly peak of 100 freight trains.

Launched under the umbrella of the Belt and Road initiative (BRI), the railway route resumed operation on February 10, when air and maritime transport continued to be hit-hard by the pandemic. 

So far this year, more than 100,000 types of made-in-China products from 15 provinces and cities including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong, Shandong and Hebei provinces have taken a train to Europe.