China's first freight train via the cross-Caspian international transport route departs Jinhuanan Railway Station. [Photo/Tide News]

China's first freight train via the cross-Caspian international transport route departed from Jinhuanan Railway Station in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, on June 18.

The train carried over 100 TEUs of daily necessities, apparel, hardware components, and other goods. It will exit through Horgos Port before traversing major Central Asian cities including Almaty (Kazakhstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) on its way to Turkmenbashi Port. From there, cargo will shift to maritime shipping across the Caspian Sea followed by final delivery via railway to Baku, Azerbaijan.

This is a brand new logistics channel opened by Zhejiang China-Europe freight train service, also its 26th line.

Adopting multimodal transportation solutions, this new path uses Turkmenbashi Port as an alternative to the congested route to Baku passing Aktau Port in Kazakhstan. The optimized routing reduces overall transit time by roughly one day while boosting efficiency between Chinese exporters and markets in five Central Asian nations as well as Central and Eastern Europe.

After more than a decade, Zhejiang China-Europe freight train service has expanded its reach into all five Central Asian countries and is exploring routes across the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

It has completed over 5,300 round trips carrying more than 440,000 TEUs worth nearly $15 billion in imports and exports.