A freight train carrying 100 TEUs of goods departs from Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, for Minsk in Belarus, Oct. 21, 2020, marking the 1,000th trip by China-Europe cargo trains in the province this year. (Photo by Gong Xianming/Xinhua)

　　HANGZHOU, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The city of Yiwu, a small commodity production center in east China's Zhejiang Province, transported 20,140 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers via China-Europe freight train service in January 2023, up 172.1 percent year on year.

　　The total number of trains departing Yiwu via the Yixin'ou route (Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe) reached 240 last month, according to China Railway Shanghai Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

　　These trains transport goods from 15 provincial-level regions including Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, and Jiangsu, thereby providing strong support to the export of foreign trade companies, according to the market development authorities of Yiwu.

　　The Yixin'ou route has now touched around 160 cities in over 50 countries in Europe and Asia.

　　The ratio of return trains to Yiwu reached 42.9 percent in 2022, up from 8.5 percent in 2020, demonstrating an increase in imports via the route over the two years, according to the train operator.