A China-Europe freight train departs from Liuzhou in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for the Russian capital Moscow, May 18, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

 
A China-Europe freight train left from Liuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Moscow, Russia on Tuesday. This marks the first operation of the Liuzhou-Moscow freight train since China and Russia signed a mutual agreement to facilitate customs clearance for enterprises.

The freight train which carried 67 loaders, road rollers and other construction machinery, will leave China via Manzhouli and is expected to arrive at the terminal station, Volsino railway station in Moscow, Russia in 20 days.

The two countries signed the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Mutual Recognition Arrangement on February 4 in order to facilitate customs cooperation and trade relations.

Under the AEO agreement, goods directly imported and exported by AEO enterprises from either of the two countries are eligible for simplified customs procedures and inspection and facilitation measures.

Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co, a Chinese construction machinery manufacturing company, is among the companies listed as an AEO enterprise by Liuzhou Customs.

"The China-Europe freight train has ensured the delivery time and the railway department has optimized the assembly plan, which helped us to cut logistics costs,” said Xue Bing, a marketing manager at LiuGong.

In August 2021, the first Liuzhou-Moscow train was launched. As of today, a total of 10 trains have been operated, and the total shipment volume has reached 7,842 tons. A total of 569 construction machines including road rollers and graders have been shipped.

China-Russia bilateral trade turnover grew in 2021 by 35.9 percent year-on-year, reaching $146.8 billion and exceeding the threshold of $140 million for the first time, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

China has been Russia's top trading partner for 12 consecutive years, official data showed.

In the next step, the Chinese railway department will give full play to the AEO system between China and Russia, encourage more local export enterprises to develop business along the Belt and Road countries using China-Europe freight trains, and improve the level of economic and trade cooperation between China and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).