On December 18, the first China-Europe freight train (Qilu) from Shanghai Cooperation Organization Demonstration Area (SCODA in Qingdao, Shandong Province) to Koper, Slovenia, which is operated by Shandong Hi-speed Company Limited, started. This also marks the the route opening of the China-Europe freight train (Qilu) via the Middle Corridor.

This train carried 82 TEUs, mainly exporting new energy vehicles, solar modules, living materials and other goods with a value of about 12 million RMB(about 1.62m Euro), which will be sent out from the SCODA Multimodal Transportation Center, exit via Khorgos Port, pass through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other countries, cross the Caspian Sea and Black Sea, and is expected to arrive at Koper, Slovenia in about 30 days. Finally, it will be distributed to Western European countries by rail.

Xu Yuejing, deputy director of Jiaozhou Customs, said that compared with sea transport, railroad transport of new energy vehicles has obvious advantages in terms of time efficiency and stability, especially for long-distance transport, which is more than sea transport and land transport in terms of economy and carbon emission. Considering the shortage of Ro-Ro ship capacity, combined with the distribution of export destination countries, the China-Europe freight train will become the primary channel for China’s new energy vehicle exports to Europe.

Since this year, new routes have been opened from SCODA Qingdao to Mannheim Germany, Budapest Hungary, Belgrade Serbia, Samarkand Uzbekistan, Luang Prabang Laos, etc. The number of international routes has been expanded to 19, reaching 53 cities in 23 countries along the SCO and “Belt and Road”.

In the first 11 months of this year, 699 China-Europe trains were operated in the SCODA Multimodal Transportation Center, an increase of 33.4% year-on-year, of which 268 trains were operated in the return trip, a record high.