After ten years of galloping, the Eurasian iron camel sets sail again - the value of import and export trains at Guangzhou Port exceeds 110 billion yuan (see picture)
The picture shows customs officers supervising the upcoming Guangzhou International Port China Europe freight train. Photo by Guan Yue
On August 27, 2026, the whistle of Guangzhou International Port sounded long. Under the supervision of customs officers at Guangzhou Station under Guangzhou Customs, a "Sui Man Russia" China Europe freight train loaded with small household appliances and other goods is ready to depart, heading towards Europe through Manzhouli Port.
Time goes back ten years. On August 28, 2016, the first "Sui Man Russia" China Europe freight train departed from Dalang Yard in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, marking the beginning of the Guangzhou China Europe freight train's journey across the Eurasian continent. According to customs statistics, the value of import and export freight trains at Guangzhou Port exceeded 110 billion yuan over the past decade (August 2016 to July 2026).
After ten years of deep cultivation, with the support of multiple parties such as railways, customs, and logistics platform companies, the Guangzhou China Europe freight train has progressed from a stumbling start to a simultaneous improvement in both quantity and quality. The "friend circle" of the China Europe freight train under the supervision of Guangzhou Customs continues to expand. From a single export route, a single exit port and a single source of goods structure at the beginning of the operation, to today, the "three channels" in the west, middle and east of China have been built, and the "seven ports" of Manzhouli, Erenhot, Alashankou, Khorgos, Suifenhe, Pingxiang, and Mohan have cooperated in a multi-directional access pattern. Guangzhou International Port and Nansha Port South Station in the customs area of Guangzhou Customs have jointly formed a total of 24 operating lines of "17 out and 7 in", serving more than 20 countries and 40 cities in Europe and Asia. The "iron and steel caravan" has built a land "golden bridge" of connectivity, mutual benefit and win-win results.
In the past decade, the scale of Guangzhou China Europe freight trains has continued to climb, and the freight structure has undergone magnificent changes. Early export goods mainly consisted of labor-intensive products such as clothing, shoes, and toys; Nowadays, high value-added "Bay Area Intelligent Manufacturing" such as electronic products, new energy vehicles, and precision machinery have become the main export drivers. The export performance of smart home appliances and commercial vehicles is impressive. Since the beginning of this year, we have supervised the export of 3480 cars through the China Europe freight train, and the value of smart home appliances such as coffee machines and smart speakers is about 2.4 billion yuan. Currently, the proportion of high value-added goods exported by the China Europe freight train at Guangzhou International Port has increased to 70%, "said Cheng Jie, head of the Customs Supervision Department at Guangzhou Station.
New formats and models constantly enrich the connotation of channels. Taking the China Europe freight train at Guangzhou International Port as an example, the category of trains has expanded from traditional general cargo to specialized trains for cross-border e-commerce, international postal parcels, etc. Among them, the cross-border e-commerce special train has achieved normalized operation, maintaining a stable shipping rhythm of one train per week on average. The value of e-commerce goods shipped in the first seven months of this year has reached nearly three times the total volume of last year. Relying on the hub advantages of Guangzhou International Port, the railway transportation of trains is deeply connected with road transportation and international sea transportation, creating a rich combination of multimodal transport systems such as "sea rail", "railway public", and "sea public railway". The "cross the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea" South Passage Train to Türkiye, which will be opened in 2025, will further adopt the "rail sea rail" intermodal transportation mode. The transportation efficiency will be shortened by one third compared with the traditional sea transportation, and the channel toughness will be significantly enhanced. The operation of full timetable trains such as "Guangzhou International Port Warsaw" has further improved the quality of train operation, achieved precise point-to-point operation, stable and controllable logistics efficiency, and provided predictable transportation support for foreign trade enterprises.
We need to both go out and bring in. In May 2020, the first return "Suiman Russia" train arrived at the Guangzhou Dalang International Logistics Freight Yard, marking the official opening of the import return train. Since the beginning of this year, the bidirectional convection pattern of Guangzhou China Europe freight trains has continued to optimize. In the first seven months, the number of imported return cargo TEUs at Guangzhou International Port accounted for nearly 30% of the total TEUs shipped.
In the early years, the Guangzhou China Europe freight train mainly focused on shipping export goods, with relatively limited return sources. Zhu Weidong, Deputy General Manager of the Business Department of the International Logistics and Supply Chain Division of Guangdong Guangwu International Freight Train Operation Management Co., Ltd., witnessed the transformation of the import and export pattern of this channel over the past decade. With the continuous densification of the train route network, coupled with the implementation of customs policies such as fast railway clearance and reduction of import domestic freight charges, the return cargo market has been activated, and imported trains have seen significant growth. In the first seven months of this year, about 6000 TEUs of imported goods have been transported to Guangzhou by return trains, "said Zhu Weidong. High density plastic pellets, kraft paper and other raw materials are continuously imported into the Greater Bay Area, and the bi-directional convection pattern of trains is becoming more stable, with a steady improvement in utilization efficiency.
In order to accelerate the development of the China Europe freight train, Guangzhou Customs has made good use of mechanisms such as "Customs Director Contacting Enterprises" and "One Train, One Policy" to deepen the construction of smart customs, promote cross departmental information interconnection, comprehensively promote the railway fast clearance mode, and achieve electronic data interconnection between customs and railway manifest. Customs conduct advance cargo review and release based on railway manifest information, eliminating the need for enterprises to make duplicate declarations or handle separate customs transfer procedures, greatly simplifying the customs clearance process. At present, the proportion of China Europe freight trains at Guangzhou International Port using railway fast customs clearance mode has increased to over 70%.
Guangzhou Dahong Trading Co., Ltd. is one of the beneficiaries of the China Europe freight train. As a company mainly engaged in research and development, production, and export of footwear, bags, and leather products, our footwear products are sold to the European market for a long time.
In the past, our exports mainly relied on sea freight, which had pain points such as long transportation cycles and meteorological interference. With the stable railway logistics channel of Guangzhou China Europe Railway Express and the facilitation measures of customs clearance, the cross-border transportation efficiency is now more stable, and the ability to resist logistics risks has been improved. In the first seven months of this year, we exported nearly 25 million yuan of goods through Guangzhou International Port China Europe Railway Express, a year-on-year increase of over 60%, "said Zeng Haitao, the foreign trade business manager of the company.
At present, the Guangzhou International Port China Europe freight train has initially formed a layout of "multi-directional extension and sea land interconnection", serving over 5000 foreign trade enterprises and covering many industries such as home appliances, electronics, machinery, textiles, and new energy. (Guan Yue/Text)