China launches cargo train connecting Yiwu with Madrid

BEIJING: In an initiative to build a new silk road linking Asia and Europe though Central Asia, China launched a cargo train service connecting its world's largest commodity market in Yiwu with the Spanish capital Madrid, 13,000-km away.

The train with 82 containers was the first to travel the entire course of the cargo line on Tuesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The "Yixin'ou" cargo line starts from Yiwu in coastal Zhejiang Province, enters into Central Asia from western China's Xinjiang and traverses Europe to reach its terminus in Spain.

The 13,000-km line passes six countries apart from China and Spain, including Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France.

It takes 21 days to travel the entire course of the line, the longest in all China-European cargo railways, officials said.

The line opens a more efficient channel for Yiwu's small commodities to go abroad, with the city previously relying heavily on air and marine transportation, a customs official in Yiwu, Lin Jiang said.

The Yixin'ou rail line opened freight traffic between Yiwu and Central Asia in January.

The new train service was launched as Chinese President Xi Jinping announced USD 50 billion fund to build 21st century Silk Road Economic belt and Maritime Silk Road which enhances China's trade links in the region and world.

Yiwu China's largest consumer market in the world which rakes up billions of dollars of trade with the rest of the world including India.