A China-Europe freight train is painted with China's Forbidden City and Spanish delicacies to celebrate the fourth anniversary running of the Yiwu-Europe freigh train. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

A Yiwu-Europe freight train was painted with China's Forbidden City and Spanish delicacies to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the route, local media recently reported.

The freight train laden with 90 containers of small commodities departed from Yiwu, Zhejiang province and pulled into the station in Madrid, Spain on Nov 24.

The Zhejiang city has run the first freight train to Europe as early as 2014.

As of Nov 18, nine freight train routes between Yiwu and European countries have been launched, reaching Central Asia, Spain, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, Latvia, Belarus, the United Kingdom and Czech Republic, with 532 journeys having taken place, carrying goods worth a total of $3.5 billion.

Statistics from Yiwu customs show that to date, more than 50,500 containers have been delivered by the Yiwu-Europe freight train with an average annual increase of over 70 percent.

Over the past four years, increasingly more European goods, including wines, mother and baby products and sanitary appliances, have been exported to China.

Taking Spain for an example, the European country's export value to China has soared from less $1.6 million in 2014 to more than $10 million currently.

In addition, mail and auto parts will also become the main goods delivered by Yiwu-Europe trains in the near future.