The first China-Europe freight train from the Yangtze River Delta region to Hungary departing from Jinhua, East China's Zhejiang Province for Budapest on June 7, 2021. Photo: VCG

China-Europe freight train has made new records while providing stable, reliable and high-efficiency logistic service as a pillar for the global supply chains, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday.

China's railway operator reported on Tuesday the new record of 15,000 China-Europe freight train trips were made in 2021, up 22 percent from 2020.

The trains transported 1.46 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers last year, up 29 percent year-on-year, data from the China State Railway Group Co said.

Speaking at a regular press conference in Beijing on Thursday, Wang said that the China-Europe express train system has opened the door for mutual promotion of supply and demand with complementary advantages.

At present, the China-Europe Express has laid out 78 operating lines, reaching 180 cities in 23 European countries, transporting more than 50,000 kinds of goods, and the logistics distribution network is now covering the entire Eurasian continent, Wang said.

The enthusiasm of participating countries and regions along the route has been unprecedentedly high, Wang noted.

Meanwhile, the train operator has coordinated the opening of a new land-sea channel in the western region of China, transporting 570,000 TEU containers throughout the year, an increase of 57.5 percent on a yearly basis.

The operator took the initiative to strengthen communication and coordination with the railway departments of countries along Belt and Road Initiative routes to ensure the smooth progress of port handover, train operations, information exchange, and unified pricing given the ongoing epidemic prevention and control measures, ensuring smooth and stable operation and a substantial increase in the number of lines opened for the China-Europe freight trains, said the China State Railway.

China-Europe freight trains have become a powerful "anchor of stability" in the global supply chain amid the disruptions caused by the pandemic, which is critical to the smooth operation of supply chains across Central Europe and Central Asia, as well as providing one more option for enterprises vulnerable to the soaring cost of international sea and air freight, experts said.

As the epidemic continues to impact international shipping and air transportation, the China-Europe freight train has maintained safe and stable operation for 20 consecutive months, with more than a 1,000 trains operating in a single month, which effectively guarantees the stability and smooth flow of the international supply chains, Wang said.