The first freight train running from Beibu Gulf Port in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to Poland and Germany via Chengdu in Sichuan province departs on Aug 1. [Photo by Chen Lei/China News Services]

The first freight train running from Beibu Gulf Port in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to Poland and Germany via Chengdu in Sichuan province departed on Aug 1.

The train, loaded with 2,750 metric tons of freight in 50 containers containing microwave ovens and toys, will arrive in Chengdu's Chengxiang Station and then the frieght will take the China-Europe freight train to Poland and Germany's Duisburg in approximately 25 days.

Trains running on the New Western Land-Sea Corridor have now achieved normalized connections with the China-Europe freight trains, officials from China Railway Nanning Group announced. It is scheduled that four trains of this kind will be conducted every month.

The distance between Guangxi's Qinzhou and Duisburg is around 12,000 kilometers and the travel time can be reduced by 20 to 25 days compared with the previous marine transport from Guangdong to Europe. 

The connection between the land-sea trade corridor and the China-Europe freight trains is expected to not only facilitate operations of China's industrial and supply chains in foreign trade to boost market vitality, but also push forward the establishment of the new development paradigm of dual circulation, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other with the domestic market as a mainstay.