Published on: 2026-04-09
Source: The People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Xi’an, April 9 /Xinhua/ — The Xi’an Trans-Caspian freight train route China-Europe showed steady growth in the first quarter of 2026, providing faster and more reliable transport communication between China and Europe. This was reported by local authorities.
The route connects Xi’an, the administrative center of Shaanxi Province in northwest China, with the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, passing through the territory of Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea. This rail-sea corridor represents a maximally short link for communication with Europe and expands the range of possibilities for transcontinental cargo transportation within the logistics network.
“In the first quarter of this year, a total of 85 China-Europe freight train compositions were dispatched via the Xi’an trans-Caspian route, which is 150% more year over year,” reported the deputy general director of Xi’an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Co., Ltd. U Le.
This route is part of the China-Europe freight railway network — the flagship project of the “Belt and Road” initiative. By October 2025, almost 120,000 trips had been made on this railway network and about 12 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) of various goods were transported to 232 cities in 26 European countries and more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries.
Kazakh city of Almaty serves as a key node of the Xi’an trans-Caspian route. In recent years, Chinese and Kazakh railway companies have closely cooperated to align throughput capacity with demand through data exchange and preliminary document verification, which significantly reduces transit time.
“The delivery time from Xi’an to Baku has been reduced from about 20 days last year to about 15 days currently. The fastest shipment took only 11 days — an improvement of about 25 percent. This has provided strong support for the high-quality development of the Trans-Caspian route,” added Wu Le.
The Committee for the Management of the Xi’an International Comprehensive Port Chanba has promised to deepen cooperation with railway and shipping operators in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and other countries to further increase the throughput capacity and competitiveness of the route.
The acceleration of logistics is already bringing tangible benefits to business. The CEO of Xi’an PFIT International Logistics Co., Ltd., Ma Dun, stated that a significant reduction in delivery time has made exports more competitive, allowed goods to reach foreign markets faster, improved capital turnover, and increased companies’ confidence in their own strengths.
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