PRODUCTS from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have another export channel to Europe thanks to the opening of a new cargo train route between Shenzhen and Budapest, Hungary, last week.

The Shenzhen-Budapest route operated by Sinotrans Shenzhen International Logistics Co. is a new route after two months of operation of the Shenzhen-Duisburg route.

It is also the first cargo train from South China to Hungary. The trip takes 16 days.

The train is loaded with electronics, machinery and textiles produced in the Pearl River Delta region. It will leave China via the Alataw Pass, a major rail port in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Shenzhen launched the weekly freight train to Duisburg, an important industrial city in Germany, two months ago. Due to the increasing demand, the operator increased the service to two times a week.

The trains to Duisburg and Budapest will enable cargo from the Pearl River Delta region to be distributed to Poland, France, Spain, Italy, Russia and Kazakhstan through local networks.

China-Europe freight trains, designed to boost land connectivity between China and the continent, have bucked the transport trend amid the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to their cost-effectiveness and reliability.

As part of a joint effort to fight COVID-19 globally, the operation of China-Europe freight trains takes a new arterial role in global transportation.

(Han Ximin)