On November 28, 2022, the first Keqiao China-Europe freight train departed from the Khorgos railway port on its way to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Since 2022, 19 China-Europe freight train routes have been added to the Khorgos Railway port, bringing the total number to 75, contributing to the building of a new development pattern featuring the domestic great cycle as the main body and both domestic and international cycles reinforcing each other.

Keqiao District of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, where the train originated, is the location of China Textile City, the largest fabric professional market in Asia, and known as the "International textile capital". In recent years, Keqiao District's annual export trade volume is more than 100 billion yuan, of which nearly 60% comes from countries and regions along the Belt and Road. Compared with the traditional sea freight, the China-Europe freight train has a stable transportation cycle and is less affected by external factors. The launch of "Keqiao" China-Europe freight train opens up a new international trade logistics channel for the export of local textiles, and has a profound impact on the local integration into the Belt and Road.

Since 2022, Xinjiang railway authorities have exerted the radiating effect of "double ports" to ensure the focus of the operation of freight trains in Central Europe (Central Asia), actively integrated into the construction of "one port, two districts and five centers" in the autonomous region's westward opening, continuously optimized the organization of freight trains, expanded the frequency of train routes, and continuously improved the quality of train operation, serving the construction of "the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt".

With a view to unblocking the port transport channel, the Horgos railway port has implemented epidemic prevention and control measures, optimized the transport organization process, rationally arranged personnel and equipment, made full use of the advantages of station operation, and implemented round-the-clock echelon rotation operation to ensure efficient and orderly organization of China-Europe railway transport. In order to improve the efficiency of loading and unloading and speed up the circulation of vehicles, the station should coordinate and deploy the capacity of the section, implement the parallel operation of all positions, and implement the pre-processing of operation links such as ticket translation review.

"We have further optimized the transportation organization, actively linked up with customs, border inspection and other joint inspection departments, tilted the shipping capacity of key trains, reduced their stay in the station, and made every effort to ensure the safety and speed of the first train through the customs clearance." Horgos station safety production command center dispatcher Ma Xiaogang introduced.

The Khorgos Railway port has implemented the mechanism of regular meeting between China and Kazakhstan to discuss the difficulties affecting the efficiency of train delivery. Meanwhile, it has actively cooperated with the Khorgos Customs, promoted paperless customs transfer, strengthened the construction of digital ports, integrated and reduced the transfer of bills and the time of receiving and sending trains, given priority to the customs clearance and inspection procedures of China-Europe freight trains, and optimized the customs clearance process. Train loading, grouping, inspection and customs release will be carried out synchronously and alternately, and the efficiency of customs clearance and transit processing will be improved to achieve "zero delay" in transit transport.

"In 2022, our company will only agent four new train lines. The launch of the 'Keqiao' China-Europe train will allow textiles produced in China to flow into the Central Asian market faster. Compared with the previous sea transport, the distance is shorter and the transportation risk is less, saving the transportation cost for enterprises." Xinjiang Zhonglian Haitong International Freight Agency Co., LTD. Horgos branch business director Guo Chunlei said.

Up to now, the Khorgos railway port has been used by 6,415 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight trains, effectively enhancing the capacity of China-Europe freight trains to serve the international supply chain. Editor/Xu Shengpeng