The First Train in China!

On January 17, the first carbon neutrality and cross-border e-commerce train with the full-time schedule in China departed at Xi'an International Port Station and headed west to Duisburg, Germany. Xi'an Chanba International Port and DB Cargo have combined carbon neutrality trains with China Railway Express (Xi'an) trains with the full-time schedule, providing a new logistics solution for "Made in China" to go global.

This marks that the cross-border e-commerce logistics plan of Xi'an Chanba International Port has been further broadened. At the same time, it has combined carbon neutrality trains with China Railway Express (Xi'an) full-time schedule trains to further promote the higher quality development of China Railway Express and achieve 100% carbon neutrality throughout the Xi'an-Europe journey.

At 10:45 am that day, Yang Wumin, Deputy Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission, announced the "departureof the China Railway Express (Xi'an) carbon neutrality and cross-border e-commerce train with the full-time schedule."

With a loud whistle, the China Railway Express (Xi'an) train loaded with 55 containers of daily necessities, automotive supplies and other goods departed from Xi'an International Port Station, passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland. After arriving in Duisburg, Germany, these goods were distributed to the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries. The train traveled about 10,000 kilometers and took about 10 days.

During the event, Frank Schulze, General Manager of DB Cargo China, issued the first carbon credit certificate for green freight to representatives of special train customers. Enterprises can use this certificate to declare annual financial statements of EU enterprises and enjoy corresponding tax exemption policies in various countries based on the credits.

According to reports, 2024 was a key year for the leapfrog development and breakthrough of China Railway Express trains. The China Railway Express (Xi'an) operated 4,985 trains throughout the year, marking a year-on-year increase of 25.1%. On the basis of the high growth in the previous year, it increased by 9.8 percentage points again, and its core indicators continued to lead the country. The new Xi'an-Poti, Georgia route has been opened, and the cross-Caspian train has basically achieved "daily service", with 18 international trunk routes covering the entire Eurasia. The external data interconnection with Harbin Railway was achieved, and it took the lead in realizing customs and railway data interconnection in China. Customs declaration and document preparation can be completed in 5 minutes, and the operating efficiency has increased by more than 1/3. The construction of a cross-border e-commerce pilot zone has highlighted the "train+" agglomeration effect, driving the import and export trade volume to increase by more than 20% year-on-year. In particular, the Xi'an Terminal in Kazakhstan has been completed and put into use, and the construction of overseas logistics stations such as China-Kazakhstan logistics station has been accelerated to achieve a strong upgrade of "hub to hub", making it the "golden channel" for the country to open up to the west.

Yang Bing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Xi'an Chanba International Port, said:"This train marks the first time that a full-time schedule train has joined hands with a world-renowned cross-border e-commerce enterprise. It will drive the continuous upgrading of cross-border logistics solutions and become a vivid practice of implementing the national 'dual carbon' strategy." Standing at a new starting point and seizing new opportunities, Chanba International Port will focus on the construction of a modern international logistics system, go all out to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and optimize services, promote the integrated development of "train+", better serve regional economic development, the country's opening up to the west, and the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", and contribute more to helping Shaanxi's Xi'an build an inland reform and opening-up highland.

Shao Bo'er,General Manager of Xi'an International Inland Port Multimodal Transportation Co., Ltd., said:"This is the first China Railway Express train in the country to transport goods through a full-time schedule train + low-carbon carbon neutrality train + cross-border e-commerce. The transportation cost is lower, which is about 1/5 of the previous air transportation. At the same time, the train adopts a high-efficiency, integrated, green and low-carbon transportation mode, using green and clean energy throughout the journey to achieve carbon neutrality. This year, the China Railway Express (Xi'an) full-time schedule train plans to apply for adding new transportation stations such as Budapest, Hungary and test the operation of full-time schedule trains cross two seas. At the same time, we have launched multiple products such as green + cold chain + cross-border e-commerce based on the full-time schedule to promote the high-quality development of China Railway Express (Xi'an)."

Frank Schulze, General Manager of DB Cargo China, said: "Both China and Germany are very concerned about carbon neutrality and environmental protection. Now more and more supply chain companies have realized the importance of green and low-carbon transportation. I believe that the departed carbon neutrality train today will attract more customers. Xi'an is an important city of the "Belt and Road" and a very important city in the operation of the China Railway Express train. In the future, we will regard ITL Group as our most important partner for DB Cargo and work together to run more high-quality China Railway Express trains."

Zhu Hongsen, Second-level Inspector of Xi'an Customs, Huang Xulin, Second-level Inspector of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Commerce, Li Qungang, Second-level Inspector of Xi'an Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Wang Yundong, Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Xi'an Chanba International Port, Qu Jinwei, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairperson of ITL Group, relevant persons in charge of Xi'an Development and Reform Commission, Xi'an Municipal Bureau of Commerce, China Railway Xi'an Group Co., Ltd. and Xi'an Branch of China Railway Container Transport Co., Ltd. (CRCT), and representatives of enterprises such as Kerry EAS Logistics and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) attended the event.

In the future, Xi'an International Inland Port Multimodal Transportation Co., Ltd. will take the opportunity of the China Railway Express (Xi'an) carbon neutrality and cross-border e-commerce train with the full-time schedule to continue to expand cooperation with major cross-border e-commerce platforms, innovate more service models, and help deepen international economic and trade cooperation. At the same time, we will continue to explore the green and low-carbon development path of China Railway Express trains, adhere to the concept of green and low-carbon, and energy conservation and emission reduction, and contribute to promoting the high-quality development of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".