China-Europe freight rail services experienced significant growth last year. In 2024, trains made 19,000 trips, representing a 10 percent increase compared to the previous year, and transported over 2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo, a 9 percent rise year-on-year. Launched in 2011 as a flagship program of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, this service now connects 227 cities across 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries. Since 2011, the transcontinental rail network has transported more than 11 million TEUs of goods, valued at over $420 billion.
The Eurasian railway revolution is primarily fueled by increased trade between the large economies, China and the European Union. Data from China’s General Administration of Customs indicates that trade between China and the EU increased in 2024 despite ongoing trade frictions and a stagnating European economy. The bilateral trade volume reached 5.59 trillion yuan ($762 billion), marking a 1.6 percent rise compared to the previous year. The EU continued to be China’s second-largest trading partner, after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
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