HANGZHOU — A China-Europe freight train left Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province on March 24, carrying 84 TEUs of containers and bound for Minsk, capital of Belarus.

The train, the 10th of the kind for the year so far, is expected to arrive in Minsk 11 days later. The cargo service has expedited Yiwu's pace of recovery from disruption caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.

As of March 23, the Yiwu railway station has seen departures of 67 China-Europe freight trains carrying 5,474 TEUs since the start of the year, up 40.8 percent year-on-year in terms of the total cargo volume.

The China-Europe train service has expanded rapidly since it was launched in the city of Yiwu, well-known for its trade of small commodities, in 2014. The service now has 11 routes linking Yiwu with 37 countries and regions across Eurasia, according to an official of the Yiwu railway station.

Amid Zhejiang province's bid to continue boosting trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, Yiwu is hoping that the number of trains departing from it will reach 1,000 in 2020.