XINING — A new China-Europe freight train line was launched on Oct 9, linking Delingha, Northwest China’s Qinghai province, with Russia.

The first train, loaded with chemical containers, will leave China through the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang and pass through Kazakhstan before reaching Barnaul in Russia.

The trip covers 4,345 km and takes about 12 days.

Delingha, in the Mongolian-Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Haixi, is located in the Qaidam Basin, China’s highest basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, abundant in mineral resources.

Since 2016, four China-Europe freight train routes have been launched in Qinghai, helping boost the international competitiveness of local goods.

In late August, China-Europe freight trains marked 10,000 trips since starting in March 2011. As of Jun 30, China’s freight rail services link 48 domestic cities with 42 European cities.