A freight train service between the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin and Europe was launched on 13 June, opening a new trade route between China and Europe.

The train left the railway station in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, at 10 am on Saturday 13 June, carrying 49 containers of domestic goods such as electronic products and auto parts from northeast and north China, worth 3 million US dollars.

During the 9,820-km-long travel, the train will pass Russia and Poland before reaching its destination of Hamburg, Germany, said Tu Xiaoyue, general manager of HAO Logistics Co., Ltd, a joint venture which runs the service.

The train will be run once every week and each single trip takes 15 days. It will transport goods from China, the Republic of Korea and Japan as well as European countries such as Germany, Poland, France, Spain and Italy.

Several Chinese cities, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, Hefei, Yiwu and Suzhou, have launched similar freight train services to Europe.