The 1,000th China-Europe freight train to set off from Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, in 2023 leaves Xi'an International Port on March 23, 2023. Photo: VCG

China-Europe freight train service has maintained a strong momentum in the first half of 2023 with surging demand and higher transport volume, effectively underpinning foreign trade growth and the smooth connection of international industrial and supply chains, China's state railway operator said on Thursday.

A total of 8,641 China-Europe freight trains ran from January to June, a year-on-year increase of 16 percent, and about 936,000 standard containers of goods were transported, up 30 percent from a year earlier, the company said.

The growth of China-Europe freight trains far outpaced global trade growth, which Chinese experts said highlighted the role of such trains in underpinning global trade.

As the Belt and Road Initiative entered its 10th year, multiple Chinese cities have opened up new services for the China-Europe freight train services, a flagship project under the BRI.

During the Shanghai Cooperation Organization virtual summit this week, China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, two economic hubs, separately launched their first China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan international multimodal freight train services, boosting connectivity between Central Asia and China's economic hubs.

The service has seen improved quality in its transport capacity and cross border infrastructure, with the maximum haul of each train service being boosted to carry 3,000 tons, a 20 percent increase compared with those of earlier trains, according to the company.

Container services were also added at key transportation node including the railway border at Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye Railway Bridge, the first China-Russia railway bridge.

Since the official launch of the service a decade ago, a total of 73,000 train trips have been made, transporting 6.9 million standard containers and connecting 216 cities in 25 European countries.