In a major win for global trade, a China-Europe freight train loaded with goods zoomed out of Xi'an this weekend, marking the 90,000th trip on this modern 'Iron Silk Road' . The service, which now connects 25 European and 11 Asian countries, has become a lifeline for everything from sneakers to solar panels!
Since 2016, these trains have gone from 1,702 annual trips to over 17,000 in 2023. They've moved enough cargo to fill 8.7 million shipping containers (that's like sending 1,000 iPhones every second for a year! ), with total goods worth a staggering $380 billion.
What's inside these rolling warehouses? Early days were all about gadgets, but now you'll find 50,000+ items โ from Polish milk to German car parts . Recently, China's green tech trio (lithium batteries, solar products, and EVs) has been stealing the spotlight , proving climate solutions can be big business.
With routes spanning from Madrid to Moscow and Xi'an to Warsaw, this network is literally re-drawing the global trade map. As one logistics expert put it: 'When planes are too pricey and ships too slow, trains are the Goldilocks choice for Eurasia's supply chains.'
. The service, which now connects 25 European and 11 Asian countries, has become a lifeline for everything from sneakers to solar panels!
. They've moved enough cargo to fill 8.7 million shipping containers (that's like sending 1,000 iPhones every second for a year! 
), with total goods worth a staggering $380 billion.
. Recently, China's green tech trio (lithium batteries, solar products, and EVs) has been stealing the spotlight 
, proving climate solutions can be big business.
. As one logistics expert put it: 'When planes are too pricey and ships too slow, trains are the Goldilocks choice for Eurasia's supply chains.'
