The China Europe and Central Asia freight trains are steadily expanding their channels and continuously optimizing their supply structure

The China Europe and Central Asia freight trains, as the backbone of cross-border logistics channels between Asia and Europe, have maintained a stable operating trend overall. The industry's development has gradually shifted from scale expansion to improving quality and efficiency, and market-oriented operation. Opportunities and practical challenges coexist.

As of now, the total number of China Europe freight trains has exceeded 130000. There are 129 cities in China that have opened regular trains to 26 235 cities in Europe and 11 more than 100 cities in Asia. Relying on Alataw Pass, Khorgos, Erenhot, Manzhouli and other ports, it has formed three main outbound channels in the west, middle and east; Central Asia trains continue to be densified relying on the western channel. The daily average number of China Europe (Central Asia) trains passing through Alashankou and Khorgos double ports in Xinjiang has remained more than 50, becoming the main land freight carrier connecting Central Asian countries. China has gradually formed gathering centers such as Xi'an, Chengdu Chongqing, Zhengzhou, and Yiwu, and the agglomeration effect of goods sources continues to emerge. The number of head hub operations accounts for a relatively high proportion of the national total.

The supply structure has undergone a significant transformation, gradually breaking away from the early pattern dominated by daily necessities and ordinary electronic products. The proportion of high value-added goods such as new energy vehicles and components, photovoltaic equipment, lithium batteries, engineering machinery, and precision electromechanical products continues to increase; The return cargo supply is steadily increasing, with an increase in the volume of imported goods such as timber, mineral products, agricultural products, chemical raw materials, and food. The imbalance of "heavy removal and light return" continues to improve, and the two-way comprehensive heavy container rate remains at a high level. The products of freight trains are constantly enriched. In addition to conventional full container transportation, LCL freight trains, cold chain freight trains, specialized container freight trains for automobiles, and intermodal freight trains for public rail/rail sea transportation are gradually running on a regular basis to meet the differentiated logistics needs of different foreign trade enterprises.

The reform of customs clearance facilitation continues to be implemented. Promote railway rapid transit, digital ports, and advance declaration models at railway ports across the country, connect railway, customs, and border inspection data links, popularize paperless document circulation, and continuously reduce the time for port cargo reloading and inspection. Pilot the "one order system" for multimodal transport in multiple regions, promoting one-time commission, one order to the end, and full settlement, reducing the cost of multiple customs declarations and repeated inspections, and continuously lowering the cross-border logistics threshold for small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises.

The layout of medium and long-term channels is steadily advancing, and the preliminary work and related supporting facilities of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway are being orderly promoted. After the project is completed, it will form a new southbound land route from China to Central Asia and West Asia, enrich cross-border transportation routes, and is expected to divert some cargo flows, alleviate the long-term traffic pressure at the two major ports in northern Xinjiang, and further release the inland trade potential of southern Xinjiang and southern Central Asia.

From the perspective of market positioning, the formation of freight trains has differentiated advantages from sea and air transportation: transportation time is significantly faster than sea transportation, transportation costs are lower than air transportation, and they are suitable for cross-border cargo transportation needs that are time sensitive, medium batch, and have a certain value, becoming an important alternative channel for international supply chains. But at the same time, the industry still faces multiple practical constraints: the track gauges of multiple countries along the route are not unified, and goods must be changed at ports; There are differences in railway freight rates, scheduling standards, and customs clearance policies, and fluctuations in transportation efficiency for overseas segments; Changes in the geopolitical environment can easily lead to route detours and increased costs; There is a certain degree of source competition among multiple domestic platforms; Freight rates fluctuate periodically with supply and demand, as well as the international situation.

In terms of development trends, the focus of the industry in the future will no longer be solely on increasing the number of operations, but will focus on four aspects: firstly, continuously enriching overseas transportation channels, promoting diversified channel layouts, and reducing dependence on single routes; Secondly, we will improve the layout of overseas warehouses and distribution nodes, and create a fully integrated logistics service from door to door; The third is to continuously optimize the supply structure, further increase the proportion of high value-added goods, and enhance the market-oriented sustainable operation capability; The fourth is to deepen the coordination and cooperation among railways and customs of countries along the route, unify transportation standards, promote continuous optimization of transportation efficiency, reduce comprehensive logistics costs, and better serve Asia Europe economic and trade exchanges.