STORY: GLOBALink | China-Europe freight trains breathe new life to ancient Silk Road
DATELINE: Aug. 22, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:07
LOCATION: Madrid
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the China-Europe freight train services
2. various of the warehouse in Spain
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): MOU JINWEN, Chairman of Shenzhen Qxbox Technology Warehousing Ltd.
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): DIEGO CIMADEVILLA, Management director of Qxbox's subsidiary in Spain

STORYLINE:

The freight train service linking Chinese cities with Europe is breathing new life into the ancient Silk Road with its expanding network.

In May 2011, a rail route was opened between Chongqing and Duisburg in Germany, marking the start of the China-Europe cargo train service.

Boosted by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), proposed by China in 2013, the international train service has been expanding fast over the past years.

Nowadays, the service connects more than 100 Chinese cities with over 200 cities in 25 countries in Europe.

At this warehouse in Spain, all the goods were transported from China via the China-Europe freight trains.

The transportation time was reduced from 40 days to 20 days as compared with traditional shipping by sea.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): MOU JINWEN, Chairman of Shenzhen Qxbox Technology Warehousing Ltd.
"We have set up e-commerce logistics service centers in Spain, Poland, Brazil and Mexico. The one in Madrid covers an area of 12,000 square meters, has served over 7,000 cross-border e-commerce companies and shipped over 2 million packages annually. So, overseas customers could purchase inexpensive quality products from China directly through the Internet."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): DIEGO CIMADEVILLA, Management director of Qxbox's subsidiary in Spain
"For Spain and the local companies, the China-Europe freight train service holds significant competitive advantages. It's more cost-effective compared with air transport. It's also faster compared with traditional maritime transport. It's a very safe means of transportation with less pollution. We can benefit from the China-Europe freight train service, especially in this post-pandemic era when Europe is grappling with an energy crisis. We believe the China-Europe freight train service is excellent."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Madrid.
(XHTV)