BEIJING — As efforts to contain COVID-19 continue, China is steadily reviving its economy. The following facts and figures indicate how the country is forging ahead in the economic sphere:
— The Alataw Pass in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region saw a rising number of inbound and outbound China-Europe freight trains in the first five months, local customs said.
A total of 1,664 China-Europe freight trains passed through the Alataw Pass, a major rail port in Xinjiang, during the period, up 39.5 percent year-on-year, said the Alataw Pass Customs.
The imported and exported cargo of China-Europe freight trains via Alataw increased by 8.8 percent year-on-year to more than 10.55 million metric tons from January to May, it said.
— On June 16, a freight train left Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, heading for Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
The train, carrying 43 containers of cargo and weighing 800 tons, will take around 15 days to reach its destination, covering around 8,000 km in the process. It is the first direct China-Europe freight train between Central China and Ukraine.
The China-Europe rail-freight service was resumed in Wuhan on March 28, as the novel coronavirus epidemic ebbed away. As of June 14, 93 trains had departed from the city, bound for Europe, with capacity recovering to around the same level as in the same period last year.
— The exhibition area of the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE), scheduled in Shanghai from 5 to 10 November, will be expanded to 360,000 square meters, according to the organizers.
The area is expected to be divided into six sections to display food and agricultural products, automobiles, technical equipment, consumer goods, medical devices and healthcare products, as well as trade in services.
Four special subsections for public health, smart transportation, energy conservation, and environmental protection, alongside sporting goods, will be set up during the event.
The CIIE is the first dedicated import exhibition in the world that has seen fruitful outcomes from the first two exhibitions.
