Tianjin Municipality, north China - Aug 28, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of Tianjin's 464th China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train this year departing from port

FILE: Tianjin Municipality, north China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of rail ports, containers, facilities operating

Tianjin Municipality, north China - Aug 28, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Huan, general manager, international rail freight operation management company in Tianjin (starting with shot 2):
"Before the launch of the China-Europe (Central Asia) Railway Express, goods had to be transfered in multiple cities before reaching Central Asian countries. After the launch, the transportation distance was shortened, and the costs of time and freight were also significantly reduced."
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Li Zhiwu, head of business development department, international marine containers company in Tianjin:
"In March this year, two loading and unloading lines were added to one major station, where the freight capacity thus rose from 400,000 to 800,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo. I believe the transportation capacity of the China-Europe (Central Asia) freight trains departing from here will be further enhanced."

FILE: Tianjin Municipality, north China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of rail ports, containers, facilities operating

China's northern port city of Tianjin -- the venue for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 -- has seen the departure of more than 5,860 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight trains, amid continued promotion of economic and trade cooperation between China and other SCO countries.

Fully loaded with 55 containers of medicines, electric appliances and food, the 464th freight train this year leaved Tianjin on Thursday. It will exit China via northern Inner Mongolia's Erenhot Port, the largest land port on the China-Mongolia border, before arriving in Mongolia's capital city of Ulan Bator in eight days.

The Erenhot Port has recorded a milestone of 20,000 arrivals and departures of China-Europe freight trains since its service was launched in 2013, said the China Railway Hohhot Group Co., Ltd. earlier this month. The Erenhot Port now serves 73 routes linking over 60 cities across 24 Chinese provincial-level regions to more than 70 stations in over 10 countries, including Germany and Poland.

"Before the launch of the China-Europe (Central Asia) Railway Express, goods had to be transfered in multiple cities before reaching Central Asian countries. After the launch, the transportation distance was shortened, and the costs of time and freight were also significantly reduced," said Wang Huan, general manager of an international rail freight operation management company in Tianjin.

"In March this year, two loading and unloading lines were added to one major station, where the freight capacity thus rose from 400,000 to 800,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo. I believe the transportation capacity of the China-Europe (Central Asia) freight trains departing from here will be further enhanced," said Li Zhiwu, head of the business development department under an international marine containers company in Tianjin.

The China-Europe freight train service began operations in 2011 and has grown rapidly since the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. So far, the service has reached 229 cities in 26 European countries and more than 100 cities in 11 other Asian countries, covering nearly the entire Eurasian continent and building a new platform for economic and trade cooperation along the routes.

Official statistics show that trade between China and other SCO countries reached a record 890 billion U.S. dollars in 2024.

The SCO Summit 2025 will be held in Tianjin from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1.