A freight train loaded with domestic automobiles departs from Yangquan Baiyangshu South Freight Yard, heading for Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, on Feb 26. [Photo/Shanxi Daily] 

A China-Europe freight train bound for Uzbekistan departed from Yangquan in North China's Shanxi province on Feb 26, carrying Chinese automobiles. 

On the same day, a freight train loaded with imported potash fertilizer from Belarus arrived in the city. 

This marked the first operation of the China-Europe freight train in Yangquan, as well as the city's first simultaneous bidirectional operation of China-Europe freight trains, signifying a breakthrough in the operation of the China-Europe freight train service in Shanxi. 

The two trains were jointly organized and overseen by Huayuan International Land Port Co, China Railway Beijing Group Co, and Shenzhen Neptune Logistics Co. 

China Railway Beijing Group Co oversees railway lines in part of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Shanxi province. These lines are crucial within the national railway network. Huayuan International Land Port Co is the largest comprehensive modern logistics enterprise in Shanxi. To date, it has launched 15 regular freight train routes, reaching over 40 cities in 16 countries. 

By jointly selecting Yangquan Baiyangshu South Freight Yard as the departure station, the two sides cooperated to establish another distribution center for China-Europe freight trains in Shanxi, aiming to construct a new international logistics channel. 

Huayuan will further deepen its cooperation with other logistics and transport enterprises, as well as strengthen the trade aggregation and distribution functions for imports and exports between Yangquan, Europe, and Central Asia. 

Located at the eastern gateway of Shanxi, Yangquan is a crucial city for the province to integrate with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The city's local exports include ceramics, ceramic granules, cement clinker, and abrasive wheels. The surrounding areas of the city also provide a rich variety of products, such as glass products, carbon electrodes, photovoltaic modules, stainless steel, coke, fertilizers, and flanges, ensuring an ample supply for China-Europe freight train operations. 

In recent years, Yangquan has focused on building an open platform and developing foreign trade, leading to the city's foreign trade import and export growth rate to rank first in the province in 2023.