The person in charge of the freight department of CR stated that this year, CR has earnestly implemented the spirits put forward in the Central Economic Work Conference, carrying out the deployment of the eight actions of the high-quality “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) construction regarding CRE trains. Adhering to the principles of consultation, joint construction, and shared benefits, CR has leveraged domestic and international cooperation mechanisms, to continuously promote the high-quality development of CRE trains. This not only ensured the stable and smooth operation of international supply chains, but effectively promoted connectivity between China and Europe, injecting strong momentum into the service of high-quality BRI construction and higher-standard opening up.

　　Channel construction has been continuously strengthened. Promoting the construction of diverse channels and routes for CRE trains, CR has further expanded the radiation range of CRE trains. Transport tests have been conducted for CRE trains from Xi'an, Chongqing, and Yiwu to Poti, Georgia, and Istanbul, Turkey, through the southern corridor. Accumulatively, 6 CRE trains have been operated via the southern corridor, a 200% increase year on year. New CRE train routes have been opened from Harbin to Tilburg in the Netherlands, Shijiazhuang to Belgrade in Serbia, and Qingdao to Moscow in Russia, promoting economic and trade exchanges between various regions and European countries.

　　Transportation capacity has been expanded gradually. CR has taken measures including optimizing the organization of CRE train transport, encouraging full-load transportation, and strengthening overall operation monitoring, to improve the efficiency of CRE train transport. To strengthen port transportation organization, CR has enhanced communication and coordination with customs, border inspection, and other authorities, actively promoting rapid customs clearance on railways. Furthermore, CR has been coordinating overseas railway enterprises to increase carriage and transshipment efforts, which enhanced port transportation capacity and facilitated customs clearance. The transportation volume of the western (Alataw, Horgos), central (Erenhot), and eastern (Manzhouli, Suifenhe, Tongjiangbei) corridors has increased by 8%, 14%, and 8% respectively year on year.

　　Service quality has been improved continuously. CR has been stably operating full-time-table CRE trains from Xi'an to Duisburg, Germany, and from Chengdu to Lodz, Poland, significantly reducing transportation time compared to regular trains. In the first quarter, 65 such trains were operated, which have been favored by customers. Leveraging the role of the CRE train portal website, CR has been actively promoting "one-stop" online booking, yard services, and container management services, providing convenience to customers. Through actively responding to market demand, CR has implemented flexible pricing strategies, accelerated the construction of overseas warehouses, and customized special freight trains for tomatoes, timber, tea, edible oil, new energy vehicles, and other products, providing customers with high-quality international logistics services. Measures such as reinforced loading and security inspections have also been implemented, to ensure the safe and smooth operation of CRE trains, by proactive application of new technologies such as Beidou satellite positioning and 5G.

　　The person in charge stated that the expanding scope of CRE train operations and the continuous growth in transportation volume highlight the positive trend of China's foreign trade stabilization and improvement. CR will focus on serving the high-quality construction of the BRI, continuously improve the operation quality and efficiency of CRE trains, promote CRE trains towards higher quality, better efficiency, and greater safety, and provide strong transportation service guarantee for the development of China's foreign trade.