The China-Europe Railway Express: A Closer Look Into the World’s Longest Railway Line

Introduction 

Have you ever wondered about the process of Chinese export goods arriving in the European Union? Behind the Made in China tag, there is a complex system of rail freight networks that connects Chinese cities to key hubs in Central Asia and Europe. Commonly referred to as the China-Europe Railway Express (CRE), it is considered to be the world’s longest railway line, 13.000 km long. 

The railway currently reaches 232 cities across 26 European nations and over 100 cities in 11 Asian nations. It accounts for almost 120,000 journeys with a total cargo value exceeding 490 billion USD. Since it began operations, the CRE has been improving international trade logistics by transporting more than 53 categories of goods, covering over 50.000 kinds of products. In this context, it has enabled China’s export of high-value-added goods, such as vehicles, automotive parts, electronics and e-commerce shipments. 

The CRE and the Belt and Road Initiative 

The CRE has simultaneously become a financial beneficiary of the globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative as well as a crucial upholder of the project. Presented by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, the BRI plays an important role in upgrading China’s trade links globally, it also intends to reduce the global infrastructure gap by including nations with a variety of socio-economic contexts. Research demonstrates that the CRE has benefited inland Chinese cities and landlocked countries along the way, such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, which are now able to reach maritime routes via the railway system. Through the construction of inland ports, isolated regions were able to surpass geographical constraints and participate in international trade. Similarly, host countries that had less developed railway networks were able to improve the railway system to meet the needs of the large-scale infrastructure.

Main International Corridors and Routes

The CRE trains run in two directions, westbound to Europe and eastbound back to China, travelling on three main corridors. The Trans-Siberian or North corridor connects important Chinese hubs to Europe via Russia and Belarus. The Middle or Trans-Caspian route, which has become an appealing alternative for bypassing Russia since the conflict with Ukraine broke out, links China to Central Asia, via the Caspian Sea into the South Caucasus, finally reaching Turkey and Southern Europe. Similarly, the Southern Corridor departs from China to Central Asia, Iran and Turkey, arriving in Europe through a merge of land and maritime routes.

In order for the railway to distribute goods smoothly across the European continent, strategic hubs were designated. Examples include the ports of Duisburg and Hamburg in Germany, which are important distribution centres for European markets, and Lodz in Poland, a relevant distribution centre for Eastern and Central Europe. According to one of the companies that operate the CRE, H&T, the main routes include the Chongqing to Duisburg route, with a distance of approximately 11,000 km, spanning around 15 days. It frequently transports automotive parts, machinery and electronics. Chengdu to Lodz is another example, roughly 9,800 km long; the journey takes 12 to 14 days, and the route mainly transports high-tech electronics. The longest route goes from Yiwu to Madrid in 16-18 days, being approximately 13,000 km in distance. This particular route is known for transporting low-cost consumer goods like kitchenware and small electronics that will subsequently be distributed to Southern European and Latin American markets. 

Amongst the CRE routes, 17 are currently running under total fixed-scheduled timetables determined by the countries along the railway. This full timetable service establishes train numbers, routes, and departure and arrival times throughout the journey and has proven to reduce travel time by over 30 per cent. These routes enhance transit predictability and overall stability of the delivery service, ideally contributing to the transport of high-value goods such as photovoltaic panels and marine diesel engine parts. 

Complementarity to Other Traditional Freight Transportation Models

When paired with maritime and air freight transport, the railway system possesses some benefits compared to other cargo transportation methods. Firstly, it has a significantly shorter transit time than sea freight. A maritime trip from China to Poland would take around 40 days, while the current travel time by rail lasts approximately 14 days. Moreover, comprehensive logistic costs, which are all of the elements that constitute the supply chain, including transportation, storage, and delivery, were reduced by 30% compared with traditional air freight. Lastly, the CRE is not as vulnerable to weather uncertainty and acts of piracy. Thereby, it can constitute a more reliable option under specific conditions, complementing other existing freight transportation models. It is worth mentioning that this alternative is a key geopolitical driver for China’s BRI, due to the fact that it reduces dependency on the coastal ports of the country and on the Strait of Malacca, where a significant amount of Chinese trade flows pass through.

Shipping of Goods by the CRE 

Data of exports from China to Europe in 2024 indicate that there was a sharp increase in the number of railway journeys compared to the previous years, especially in the vehicle segment. Totaling 10.546 trains in the China-Europe direction and 8.846 in the Europe-China direction, the main product categories include heavy machinery, electrical equipment (such as automatic data processing machines and its parts), clothing, furniture, and plastic articles. Data on overall Sino-European trade from January to October 2025 depicts a similar pattern of exported products from China to Europe, although the general trend was a decrease in the volume of goods transported in both directions, pointing to a rise in the share of trade that occurs through freight trains. The main exported categories of products were mechanical and electrical products (such as automatic data processing machines and their parts), labour-intensive products, which declined in comparison to the previous year, and plastic products, which rose compared to 2024. 

The export of high value added goods such as electric vehicles, lithium and solar batteries emerged as crucial pillars of China’s international trade between 2017 and 2023. The growing concern with environmental issues and the establishment of partnerships and cooperative targets to mitigate climate change, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to be achieved by 2030, has substantially increased the demand for sustainable technology in the international markets. As a response, the CRE has been enduring ongoing development of proper logistics conditions to enable the transportation of products such as electric vehicles and photovoltaic devices. In addition, within the CRE, the customs clearance systems, which refer to the bureaucratic process of entry or exit of goods in a country, are being digitalised to constitute a more convenient and effective system. 

Promotion of Green Technology  

An additional important feature of the CRE is to incentivise logistics companies to adopt technologies that are more efficient in their energy consumption. Research that analysed Chinese listed manufacturing firms during the years of 2011 and 2021 points out that the CRE had strengthened the ability of private enterprises and small-scale firms to adopt sustainable technologies as a response to governmental policies and monitoring demands. The purpose of this control is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted and the waste of resources to establish real green supply chains under a clean production model. For instance, some companies adopted the diesel engine retrofitting process, which entails the addition of specific devices that control and reduce pollutant emissions from the diesel engines of trucks, ships, ports, construction vehicles, and others.

Furthermore, the CRE facilitates the cross-border diffusion of green technological innovation through the trade of sustainability-related products. An example is the Xi’an International Trade and Logistics Park, a key hub and operational base of the railway. Since 2020, it has attracted various European tech companies, especially in the fields of precision equipment, environmental supervision, and smart logistics, benefitting from the China-Europe connection that the railway enables. Similarly, the China-Germany SME Cooperation Park in Chengdu has become an important hub for investments in green technological innovation following the logistical support of the CRE. 

It is also worth mentioning the Future Communications and Networks initiative between Chinese and Serbian universities, launched in 2023. The project consists of the development of an artificial intelligence tool to monitor the long-term environmental impact of the CRE on the regions along its routes. While it helps address environmental harm and risks, it also promotes discussions that aim to better influence decision-making related to the CRE. For example, the 10 years of monitoring data indicated that some areas have already experienced ecological degradation due to the large-scale infrastructure. In this sense, the researchers involved pointed out that one of the measures that could potentially contribute to a more sustainable development of the CRE is to take the different geological and ecological features of each area into consideration when defining train management (materials and machinery, use of energy, environmental noise and vibration levels, amongst others). 

Fostering International Cooperation and Economic Dynamism 

A strong collaboration between China and the host countries was crucial for railway lines to be redesigned into an intertwined cooperative infrastructure, despite the different railway gauges, distances and varying legal frameworks. 

Through the lens of international system dynamics, it is possible to acknowledge that the current pattern of infrastructure development attempts to contradict the growing trend of isolationism and competition regarding innovation. This happens because the standardised production processes of global value chains of the CRE occur under the exchange of technical expertise, funding, and technology between Chinese and international enterprises.

Sui Hongguang, an associate professor and head of the Department of International Economics and Trade at Shandong University, said on an interview for China Daily that the CRE is more than just a means of transportation, transcending to an 'economic corridor' that foments regional and inland development, stabilizing global supply chains. Similarly, Michael Schumann, chairman of the Board of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade, stated during an interview for Xinhua that Duisburg, which was once an industrial city, is now transformed by logistics hubs and new businesses related to the rail connection. Ötüken Senger, the mayor of Kars in eastern Türkiye, a logistics and transit hub for the CRE, affirmed that the city now presents significant opportunities for trade and industrial development. He added that regional logistics hubs are not reduced to transfer points for goods anymore but rather 'strategic nodes in a global ecosystem that integrates smart supply chains, sustainable transport and digital innovation'. 

Challenges

Although the CRE has proven to present various benefits for host countries, several challenges constrain its overall performance. First, an analysis of relevant data points out that there is a significant imbalance in the number of westbound and eastbound trains. The graph available on the China Railway Express website shows the annual volume of trains bound in both directions during the period between 2015 and 2024, demonstrating that Chinese imports from Europe are weaker than Chinese exports to European countries. 

The same pattern is perceived in the trade of sustainable technologies, which shows that the CRE is struggling to fully benefit European nations, despite the promise of being a win-win cooperation project. It is worth mentioning that the European leaders are somewhat divided in their opinions towards the BRI and its projects, with some being favorable and others presenting scepticism. In this sense, the disparity between the flow of exports and imports can end up reverberating negative sentiments in regard to the railway and its advantages for Europe. Along with other factors such as competition and trade barriers, Sino-European relations can be affected and impact the efficient operation of the CRE. 

Another problem that emerges from the imbalance of cargo is the high rate of containers returning to China that are empty or with low-value-added goods. This leads to higher costs and doubts about whether the CRE is as beneficial in large-scale operations when compared to other services, such as sea freight. 

Geopolitical constraints have also been on the rise. The Russo-Ukrainian War has led to bottlenecks in Eurasian infrastructure networks since its start in 2022, due to the fact that Russia’s Trans-Siberian railway route has served as an important passage for the CRE trains. It has been reported that Russian authorities have tightened inspection and detention of goods transported on the trains after banning cargo such as electronics and machinery that could be used for military purposes. Moreover, during the five days of September 2025, Poland shut down its borders with Belarus because of a joint military exercise led by Russia, which impeded trains from entering European hubs. All of the incidents underline the fact that geopolitical risks can lead to accessibility obstruction, affecting costs related to the transit of the CRE. 

The CRE’s vulnerability to geopolitical risks highlights the need to increase activity on alternative corridors. Even though the Middle or Trans-Caspian route has emerged as an important option to bypass Russia, infrastructural constraints remain. For instance, the Caspian Sea presents a limited number of vessels if compared to the growing freight volumes that need to be transported. Additionally, some of the countries that are part of the route present outdated railway infrastructure, such as inconsistent rail gauges and a lack of efficient digitalised information systems, as is the case in the Central Asian countries. The asymmetrical digitalisation between countries along the route prevents efficient tracking of goods and can also lead to empty containers and bottlenecks. The combination of these factors contributes to a reduced stability of the delivery service and frequent traffic delays at borders. In comparison to the Trans-Siberian Railway, the cost of transit is 30% higher, and none of the alternative routes has yet reached the capacity of the Northern corridor. 

The Future of the CRE

At the CRE Cooperation Forum, last held in November 2025 under the theme of 'Connecting Asia and Europe for a Better Future', participants discussed topics ranging from diversifying channels to promoting innovation and greater efficiency within the system. In addition, new collaborative achievements were announced, including new freight train routes. Tsoncho Ganev, the vice president of the Bulgarian National Assembly, stated in the opening ceremony that the CRE is a 'critical artery of the global economy', allowing Bulgaria to emerge as a bridge between Asian and European products and markets. 

The International Association Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) also participated in the CRE Cooperation Forum. Talgat Aldybergenov, Chairman of the Managing Board, noted that the TITR routes have drawn significant attention from Chinese and Kazakh leadership and that its development corresponds to the strategic interests of the countries along the corridor. 

Aiming to resume the expansion of the CRE, the Chinese Development Bank has announced a 'special purpose loan' of 4 billion USD designated towards assisting corridor development, the construction of ports and hub infrastructures, and the operation of important enterprises. It remains to be seen if during the next chapters of the CRE’s development, the resources of investment will be channeled to surpass the challenges previously mentioned. The success of the project will heavily depend on the dialogue between the nations involved and the capability to draw solutions that benefit all parties.  

The views expressed in this article belong to the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of European Guanxi.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Luiza Faorlin is a graduate student in European Studies with a Minor in Journalism and Communication from the University of Coimbra. Her main fields of interest are Development and International Cooperation. 

This article was edited by Stefano Bertoli and Zheng Guan.

Featured Image: Train Yard with Multiple Tracks and Cars  / Free for use / Jiri Ikonomidis / Pexels