BEIJING (Realist English). The Middle Corridor of the China-Europe Railway Express has reached a key milestone, surpassing 20,000 cumulative train journeys since its inaugural service in 2013, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.
The 20,000th train departed on July 28 from the Erenhot Railway Port in Inner Mongolia, carrying 55 containers, according to China Railway, the line’s operator. Erenhot serves as a major node in the Middle Corridor, which has seen exponential growth amid expanding international trade under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Since reaching its 10,000th train in 2022, the corridor has doubled throughput in just three years, reflecting a broader shift from bulk goods like metals and chemicals to higher-value cargo including electric vehicles, electronics, and home appliances.
The Middle Corridor — formally known as the Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor — crosses Kazakhstan, traverses the Caspian Sea, and continues via Azerbaijan and Georgia, before entering Europe through Türkiye. It now operates 73 rail routes, linking over 70 hubs in more than 10 countries, including Germany and Poland, and connecting over 60 Chinese cities across 24 provinces.
The rapid development of the Middle Corridor underscores China’s effort to diversify trade routes between East Asia and Europe, especially amid geopolitical tensions and disruptions along the traditional Northern Corridor through Russia.
