NANJING — East China's Jiangsu province handled 1,800 China-Europe freight train trips in 2021 — a record high — up 29 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial department of transportation.

The import and export values of goods transported by the freight trains reached nearly 25.6 billion yuan (about $4 billion), up 67.7 percent from 2020.

The province added seven new China-Europe freight train routes last year, including the Suzhou-Helsinki and the Nanjing-Tilburg freight train services.

The China-Europe freight train service kicked off operation in 2011 and has since served as a crucial link for trade and economic cooperation across the Eurasian continent.