BEIJING—AChineseofficialsaidonJan22thatprogresshasbeenmadeinexpandingtheChina-Europeexpressfreighttrainservice.
Atotalof3,673tripsweremadelastyear,morethandoublethatof2016andexceedingthetotallaunchedduringthepastsixyears,YanPengcheng,spokespersonattheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission,toldanewsconference.
InitiatedinMarch2011,theservicehasexpandedrapidlyandisexpectedtoriseto5,000tripsin2020.Fasterthanseaandcheaperthanair,Chinanowhasexpressfreightserviceto36Europeancities.
Besidetheexpandingnetwork,effortshavebeenmadetoliftefficiencywhileloweringcosts.Yansaidtraveltimehadbeenshortenedtolessthantwoweeksfrommorethan20daysformanyjourneys,andtransportcostshavebeencut40percent.
“Chinawillcontinuetocooperatewithrelevantcountriesin2018toimprovethequalityandefficiencyoftheChina-Europefreighttrainserviceandbuilditintoacompetitiveinternationallogisticsbrand,”hesaid.
TheEuropeanUnionremainedChina’slargesttradepartnerin2017,withthevolumeofbilateraltradesurging15.5percentfromayearearlier.
RegistrationNumber:05070218
Allrightsreserved.Thecontent(includingbutnotlimitedtotext,photo,multimediainformation,etc)publishedinthissitebelongstowww.gov.cn.
Withoutwrittenauthorizationfromwww.gov.cn,suchcontentshallnotberepublishedorusedinanyform.