Bon voyage: Final preparations take place on Sept 28 for the departure of the first train on the new China-Europe Freight Train-Shanghai service, bound for Germany. [Photo/WeChat account: scofcom]

The first train on the new China-Europe Freight Train-Shanghai service officially set off from Shanghai in East China on Sept 28 – carrying some 50 containers, 40-foot long – heading for the city of Hamburg in Germany.

Local rail officials said freight train services connecting China and Europe will further boost global supply chains and heighten the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative in coming years.

Shanghai is a national transportation hub for sea, land and air and has always played an important role in international trade.

The opening of the China-Europe freight train service in Shanghai is seen as being an important measure to implement the national logistics strategy. It is also regarded as being of great significance to further upgrade Shanghai as an international trading center, as well as strengthen its capacity to allocate global resources.

The Shanghai China-Europe freight train currently operates once a week. It will gradually increase the frequency of its operations and open up new routes in the future.