A China-Europe freight train bound for Moscow pulls out of the Xiamen Port in East China's Fujian province on April 12 and is expected to arrive in Moscow in 15 days. [Photo by Zhuang Jianhua/Chinanews.com]

The China-Europe Railway Express (Xiamen) saw significant growth in the first quarter of 2020, with 67 trips run by freight trains carrying 6,106 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers, up 148 percent and 160 percent year-on-year, according to Xiamen Customs.

Statistics showed that in March, the China-Europe Railway Express (Xiamen) made 33 trips with 2,958 TEUs, carrying $113 million worth in cargo, increasing by hitting record highs of 152.6 percent year-on-year.

Due to the global COVID-19 outbreak, European countries are facing great shortages of medical supplies such as face masks, which has led to the sharp increase in freight volume on the China-Europe Railway Express in transporting medical and epidemic prevention materials to European countries.

To guarantee the operation of the China-Europe rail line during the COVID-19 outbreak, Xiamen Customs has launched an array of measures, including setting up green channels and opening more routes to increase the transport volume.

Ding Changfa, an economist of the Xiamen University, said that China-Europe freight trains rumble across many countries as they have limited influence from the pandemic thanks to their segmented transport model and contactless services.

He believes that China-Europe freight trains will have great potential in the post-epidemic economic recovery, both driven by the global demands and China's accelerated domestic work resumption.