China's small commodity hub boosts transport efficiency for cross-border e-commerce

Yiwu in Zhejiang Province, east China, known as the "world's supermarket" for its enormous exports of small commodities, has launched a special train service for cross-border e-commerce goods to reach the global market through sea-rail intermodal transport.

A train carrying 90 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of cross-border e-commerce goods, sounded its whistle and set off from Yiwu West Railway Station Friday morning, heading for Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, marking the launch of the train service.

The goods it carried, after reaching the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, the world's busiest port in terms of cargo throughput, will be shipped to North America. The customized cross-border e-commerce special train service will boost the efficiency of transportation and reduce logistic costs for enterprises.

Yiwu is a global hub for small commodities and cross-border e-commerce businesses. According to statistics, there are currently over 650,000 e-commerce business entities in Yiwu, among which 40 percent are engaged in cross-border e-commerce.

From January to July this year, the cross-border e-commerce transaction volume in Yiwu increased by 17.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

In general, the sea-rail intermodal train service from Yiwu to Ningbo-Zhoushan Port has seen 813 trains setting off carrying 73,956 TEUs of goods this year.