XINING — A new China-Europe freight train service began on Aug 20, linking Russia with Golmud in Qaidam Basin, Northwest China’s Qinghai province.

The train, loaded with containers of chemical, left China through the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang, and will pass Kazakhstan before reaching Perm in Russia.

The trip covers about 6,360 kilometers and takes 10 days, 30 days less than the previous sea route.

Hu Tianhong, driver of a new China-Europe freight train service linking Russia with Golmud in Qaidam Basin, Northwest China’s Qinghai province, drives the train away from Golmud, Aug 20, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

“The new service can boost the international competitiveness of local goods,” said Meng Hai, governor of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai.

Encouraged by the Belt and Road Initiative, more than 20 Chinese cities now run trains to Central Asia and Europe.