Major Xinjiang port handles over 4,000 China-Europe freight train trips in Jan-May

Horgos Port, a major railway hub in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has handled over 4,000 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train trips this year after a train loaded with electronics and mechanical equipment departed for Germany's Duisburg on Thursday.

To date, Horgos railway port has processed a cumulative total of more than 46,000 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train trips, with 87 operational routes linking 46 cities and regions across 18 countries, according to China Railway Urumqi Group Co., Ltd.

Situated on the China-Kazakhstan border, Horgos Port and Alashankou Port, also known as Alataw Pass, are Xinjiang's two primary rail gateways.

Earlier data showed that, as of Monday, Alashankou Port had handled over 3,000 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train trips this year, with 123 routes connecting 21 countries, including Germany and Poland.

Over the past three years, cargo throughput at these two railway ports has sustained double-digit growth.

In 2024, the ports handled 27.5 million tonnes of goods, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the region's total land-based import and export volume. Additionally, the number of China-Europe freight trains passing through the two ports represented over 50 percent of the national total.

In 2024 alone, the two ports processed 16,400 China-Europe freight train trips, up 14 percent year on year. ■