A China-Europe Railway Express (Xiamen) train departs from Xiamen Port in East China's Fujian province on March 12. [Photo by Zhuang Jianhua/Xinhua]

The China-Europe Railway Express (Xiamen) saw sharp growth in the first two months of this year. It made a total of 34 trips, increasing by 161.5 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released by Xiamen Customs on March 11.

Customs officials said that a total of 3,142 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers were exported from Xiamen Port to European nations via China-Europe freight rail services in January and February, carrying a total of 831 million yuan ($118.66 million) in cargo, up 150.7 percent year-on-year.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia has led to a slowdown in demand for ground and air transport in the past few months, and Xiamen Customs has been making great efforts to expand freight rail services to promote foreign trade.

A series of measures were taken to support the freight train, including setting up special service windows and providing checking and passing priorities, as well as rolling out non-contact services to ensure convenient and efficient customs clearance for international trade enterprises.

A total of 31 trains are expected to be produced this March, a year-on-year increase of 38 percent.

Since it was first launched in August 2015, the China-Europe Railway Express (Xiamen) has connected 12 nations and more than 30 regions, seamlessly merging the Silk Road and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.