A merchant from Cameroon (right) shops for artificial flowers at Yiwu China Commodity City in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, on Feb 21. [SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY]

As Chinese New Year dawned on Feb 10 sparking the Spring Festival celebrations, a freight train bound for Madrid, Spain, departed from Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang province, carrying not just valuable cargo, but also hopes for better transcontinental trade cooperation that could potentially transform the global economy.

As for its material contents, the train was loaded with 110 twenty-foot equivalent units containers of various goods, including industrial products, electronic devices and clothing. It was one among many such China-Europe freight trains on the Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe route, known as Yixin'ou in Chinese. The route spans over 13,000 kilometers and saw its maiden trip back in 2014.

Official data showed as many as 68 Yixin'ou trips were made during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday.

"After years of development, the Yixin'ou freight trains are now running on over 20 routes reaching over 160 cities in more than 50 countries," said Chen Jinghua, general manager of Yiwu Land Railway Port Development.

Chen highlighted a notable shift in export products from traditional small commodities to high-tech products, saying the trains are supplying more high-value products like solar photovoltaic panels, spare parts for automobiles and electronic devices than others these days.

Official data reflect the marked shift in China's exports with the high-tech "new three" experiencing substantial growth. Exports of the "new three" — passenger EVs, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells — were worth 1.06 trillion yuan ($147.4 billion) in 2023, up nearly 30 percent year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Citing the 2023 export data, Zou Yunhan, deputy director of the macroeconomic research office at the State Information Center's Department of Economic Forecasting, said: "Although foreign trade may continue to face pressure, there are still new bright spots worth noting.

"Foreign trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative is expanding from traditional export markets to broader regions. And exports of the high-tech 'new three' will continue to support stable growth in foreign trade."