At the Alashankou Port, a train loaded with electronic products honked its horn and headed west towards Malaszewicz, Poland. On this day 15 years ago, the first China Europe freight train, Chongqing Xinjiang Europe, departed from here, embarking on a steel journey on the Eurasian Continental Bridge. Today, the number of China Europe Asia trains passing through the Alataw Pass and Khorgos ports in Xinjiang has exceeded 100000, accounting for more than half of the national total. From an average of 3.5 trains per month to 18000 trains per year, from a single route to a vast network covering 21 countries, this steel artery has achieved astonishing acceleration.  

100000 trains finally break through the barrier

By March 2026, the number of China Europe Asia trains passing through Alashankou and Khorgos ports in Xinjiang has exceeded 100000 in total, accounting for more than half of the total traffic volume in China. From January to February this year, a total of 1406 Eurasian trains were regulated, a year-on-year increase of 24.5%. Looking back, in 2011, the Alashankou Port operated only 3.5 trains per month, and in 2016, the annual operating volume was less than a thousand trains. In 2020, it jumped to nearly 5000 trains, exceeded 10000 trains in 2022, and climbed to over 18000 trains in 2025. The leap from zero to ten thousand witnessed the speed and resilience of China's opening up to the west.

The line covers 21 countries

At the beginning of its operation, the China Eurasia freight train had a single transportation route. Nowadays, there are 128 train routes passing through the Alashankou Port, which can reach 21 countries; There are 91 train routes passing through Khorgos Port, covering 18 countries. From textiles and daily necessities to whole vehicles and laptops, the categories of goods have expanded from a few to more than ten major categories and tens of thousands of varieties. More and more Chinese made goods are taking trains to go global. The inspection of containers has increased from a daily average of two or three boxes to about 60 boxes, and now the weekly traffic volume is equivalent to the annual traffic volume in 2016. Keywords: Land Port News Network, China Europe Railway Express

Clearance compressed to 16:00

The strength and excellence of infrastructure are directly related to channel efficiency. In 2024, the second line of the Lanxin Railway Jing'a Line will be fully opened, and the standard gauge transportation capacity at the Alashankou Railway Port will be increased by 15%, while the wide gauge transportation capacity will be increased by 30%. In May 2025, Urumqi Customs will take the lead in implementing the reform of smart railway port and territory fast customs clearance at Khorgos Customs, pushing the passage time of imported goods to be reduced from 2 to 3 days to 16 hours, the average return train change takes only 2 hours, and the clearance time of outbound trains is reduced to less than 1 hour. At present, the total number of Eurasian trains passing through Alashankou Port has increased to 4, and that of Khorgos Port has increased to 1, with the total operation time reduced by more than 30% compared with ordinary trains.Editor/Gao Xue