According to China Railway Group, from January to April this year, a total of 5,611 China-Europe freight trains have been operated, transporting 609,000 TEUs of goods, a year-on-year increase of 17% and 32% respectively. Among them, 1,459 trains were operated in a single month in April, 25% more than the same period of last year.  160,000 TEUs of goods were transported, marking a year-on-year increase of 45%.

Since the beginning of this year, the China Railway has continued to expand the capacity of border ports. The number of trains operating on the west (Alashankou and Khorgos), middle (Erenhot), and east (Manzhouli and Suifenhe) corridors from January to April increased by 25%, 9%, and 10% respectively.

According to a report from the business and financial media Caixin, experts estimated that China-Europe freight trains’ business to Russia accounted for 90% of the total.