At 16:00 on May 7, 2026, a China Europe freight train loaded with automotive parts and mechanical products departed from Alashankou Station and headed to Malaszewicz, Poland. By the end of the day, there had been more than 3000 China Europe and Central Asia trains running at the Alashankou railway port in 2026, providing strong support for the high-quality joint construction of the the Belt and Road.

Make efforts to improve efficiency and solidify the foundation for the beginning

To ensure a good start in the 15th Five Year Plan, the railway department in Xinjiang actively implements the spirit of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In accordance with the requirements of expanding high-level opening up to the outside world, it fully implements the Party's strategy for governing Xinjiang in the new era, closely follows the five strategic positioning given to Xinjiang by the Party Central Committee, and focuses on the goal of building a golden channel between Asia and Europe and a gateway to opening up to the west in Xinjiang. It strengthens meetings, cooperation, and communication with Kazakhstan, explores potential, improves efficiency, and continues to promote the high-quality development of China Europe Central Asia freight trains.

Since the beginning of 2026, the economy of Xinjiang has been running steadily, and the demand for import and export trade has been very strong. To ensure efficient transportation of import and export goods, Alashankou Station strictly implements the train operation plan, optimizes the transportation organization process, refines the full process operation standards such as train reception, grouping, reloading, and release, and strives to improve the train operation fulfillment rate. At present, the daily average number of trains passing through Alashankou Station is 24, and the carrying capacity and turnover efficiency of the port hub have been newly improved.

Optimize layout, weave dense network for operation

Entering the second quarter, the national railway implemented a new freight train timetable. China Railway Group continuously optimized its train products and provided safe and efficient cross-border logistics services around the goal of improving the development level of China Europe Central Asia trains. Among them, a new Central Asian train departing from Beijing, Tianjin, and Zhangjiakou via Alashankou will be added to support the development of foreign trade industry in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region. Alashankou Station accurately grasps the information of train operation time, cargo grouping, etc., scientifically allocates manpower for various positions such as train operation, scheduling, and freight, and achieves seamless connection of the entire process of train arrival, grouping, inspection, and release. At the same time, we will strengthen coordination and cooperation with customs, border inspection and other joint inspection units, optimize customs clearance procedures, make every effort to shorten the stay time of trains at ports, ensure the smooth exit of the three first Central Asian trains in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region, further improve the network of Central Asian train operation, and lay a solid foundation for the normalization of train operation.

Zhang Bin, Assistant Engineer of the Technical Department of Alashankou Station of China Railway Urumqi Group Co., Ltd., stated that the focus is on the key process of container loading, making full use of the night work gap, adjusting the containers to be inspected to designated areas, and optimizing the layout of cargo areas; Proactively liaising with customs to improve inspection and circulation efficiency, reduce waiting time for trains, and ensure smooth transportation of trains at ports through refined operations.

Smart customs clearance improves traffic efficiency

In order to continuously improve the efficiency of the China Europe freight train, Alashankou Customs has conscientiously implemented the various reform arrangements of the General Administration of Customs and Urumqi Customs, launched convenient measures such as railway manifest consolidation and railway express, and greatly simplified the customs clearance process. At the same time, the use of intelligent machine inspection, drawing review and other technologies has promoted the shift of train inspection mode from traditional manual section by section to non-invasive intelligent supervision. Through the collaborative operation of large container inspection equipment and intelligent drawing review system, the average efficiency of single train inspection has been improved by 70%. We will continue to make good use of various measures taken by the General Administration and the General Customs to support the development of China Europe freight trains, promote the implementation of convenient policies such as conditional withdrawal of imported grain, and at the same time, carry out night shift overtime inspections according to enterprise applications, fully improving the efficiency of freight inspection. Since 2026, the highest number of trains passing through Alashankou Port in a single day has reached 35, setting a new historical high, "said Turhongjiang Hasimu, head of the Inspection Department of Alashankou Customs.

As of now, there are 128 China Europe Central Asia freight train lines passing through the Alashankou Railway Port, covering 21 countries including Germany and Poland, carrying more than 200 types of goods including automotive parts, mechanical equipment, electronic products, daily necessities, etc. Keywords: Xinjiang, China Europe Central Asia freight trains, cross-border logistics

In recent years, the railway department in Xinjiang has continuously facilitated the organization of port transportation, promoted the construction of smart ports, and maintained an average annual traffic volume of over 10000 trains for the China Europe Central Asia freight trains for six consecutive years. By 2025, the port throughput will reach 32.1 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%; Ensure 18000 China Europe Central Asia freight trains, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, and promote the steady development of China Europe freight trains towards higher quality, better efficiency, and greater safety.Editor/Gong Ziwei