Eastern Chinese city opens freight train route to Budapest

HEFEI, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A China-Europe freight train, carrying 100 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers, left Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province on Friday afternoon, for Budapest of Hungary, marking the first trip between the two cities.

Anhui-made products such as solar panel components, electric machines, and inverters, with a total worth of nearly 10 million U.S. dollars, are expected to arrive in Budapest in 16 to 18 days by the train after a journey of more than 10,800 km.

Since Anhui launched the first China-Europe freight train route in 2014, over 2,500 China-Europe freight train trips have been made so far, linking the province with 85 cities in 18 countries.

The China-Europe freight train service provides a new channel for the inland province to connect with the world and export its goods.

A total of 500 such trips have been made so far this year, and 22 more destinations are added to Hefei's China-Europe freight train network.