Xinhua, Qingdao :
Loaded with auto parts and food, a freight train will depart from CRIntermodal Qingdao Terminal in east China’s Shandong Province about every three times a week. It will arrive in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty about ten days later, and on to five Central Asian countries including Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The trip is about one month faster than the journey by sea and costs much less, according to Wei Xuelun, executive vice general manager at the CRIntermodal Qingdao Terminal. Initiated in 2015, the Qingdao freight trains have travelled from China to Central Asia over 3,000 times, making the coastal city a node on the economic corridor linking China, Central Asia and Europe.
Qingdao, which hosts the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this weekend, is one of the witnesses of the enhanced connectivity between China and other SCO members thanks to the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
After about five years, the initiative has made notable progress.
China has cooperation agreements with 88 countries and international organizations. Trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road has exceeded five trillion U.S. dollars.
Chinese firms have built 75 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in the region, with a total investment of about 25.5 billion U.S. dollars and creating nearly 220,000 local jobs, according to Gao Feng, spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce.
Loaded with auto parts and food, a freight train will depart from CRIntermodal Qingdao Terminal in east China’s Shandong Province about every three times a week. It will arrive in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty about ten days later, and on to five Central Asian countries including Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The trip is about one month faster than the journey by sea and costs much less, according to Wei Xuelun, executive vice general manager at the CRIntermodal Qingdao Terminal. Initiated in 2015, the Qingdao freight trains have travelled from China to Central Asia over 3,000 times, making the coastal city a node on the economic corridor linking China, Central Asia and Europe.
Qingdao, which hosts the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this weekend, is one of the witnesses of the enhanced connectivity between China and other SCO members thanks to the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
After about five years, the initiative has made notable progress.
China has cooperation agreements with 88 countries and international organizations. Trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road has exceeded five trillion U.S. dollars.
Chinese firms have built 75 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in the region, with a total investment of about 25.5 billion U.S. dollars and creating nearly 220,000 local jobs, according to Gao Feng, spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce.
