JINAN — The number of "Qilu" China-Europe freight trains that depart from the eastern Chinese city of Jinan for Europe and Central Asia saw growing trips in the first half of this year (H1), local authorities said on July 23.

The "Qilu" China-Europe freight trains saw 378 trips in the period, up 35.5 percent year-on-year, the information office of the Jinan municipal government told a press briefing.

The value of the export and import commodities transported via the route reached 3.89 billion yuan ($601 million) in H1, up 76.4 percent year-on-year.

Jinan launched five new China-Europe freight train routes in H1, with the services so far linking around 20 countries in Europe and Central Asia.

The total value of Jinan's foreign trade was 85.51 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.2 percent, showed H1 customs data.