The first China-Europe freight train departs from Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang province on Jan 1. [Photo/zgyww.cn]

The first China-Europe freight train departing from Yiwu, Zhejiang province in 2021 started its journey at around 10 am on Jan 1, carrying 96 TEUs of Geely auto parts.

The train, which departed from Yiwu West Station, will arrive in Minsk, capital of Belarus, 13 days later.

An additional three China-Europe trains also departed from Yiwu on the afternoon of Jan 1. These trains, which are carrying commodities, will stop in Minsk, Madrid in Spain, and five Central Asian countries.

According to statistics released by the Yiwu authorities, 1,399 China-Europe freight trains departed from Yiwu or Jinhua in 2020, registering a year-on-year increase of 129.6 percent. Specifically, 974 trains departed from Yiwu, carrying 80,392 TEUs of commodities, a year-on-year increase of 90.2 percent.

Currently, Zhejiang province has 28 China-freight trains carrying goods to 59 countries and regions in the Eurasian region. The commodity varieties transported by the trains include hardware, textile articles, auto parts, articles of daily use, and engineering equipment.

The China-Europe freight train has become a main channel through which China exports commodities and anti-epidemic materials to Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.