Major railway ports see steady growth in China-Europe freight trains in Q1

Several major railway ports across China reported increases in the throughput of China-Europe freight train services in the first quarter of 2025, indicating strong trade between China and its trading partners along the routes.

The Manzhouli railway port, China's biggest land port located in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, saw shipments surpass 5 million tons in the first quarter, up 1.9 percent year-on-year and hitting a fresh record, China Railway Harbin Group Co said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

The port is a key hub in the overland transportation of goods under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and a major channel for imports and exports through China-Europe freight trains.

By optimizing work flows, the port has reduced the time needed for switching railway gauges from 10 hours to eight hours, resulting in a boost in efficiency, per the statement.

As China's industrial sector picked up pace, the port has witnessed a marked rise in iron ore concentrates imports, with current daily arrivals averaging more than 15,000 tons, according to the company.

Other routes of the China-Europe freight trains are also reporting growth. East China's Zhejiang Province operated 771 China-Europe freight train trips during the first quarter, with a year-on-year rise of 4 percent, according to local media outlet jhnews.com.cn.

In Central China's Hunan Province, the China-Europe freight train service based in Changsha, the provincial capital, handled 157 trips carrying $454 million worth of cargo, according to a post on the Hunan provincial government website on Tuesday.

The growth in China-Europe freight trains also came as China's factory activity picked up pace. China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in a year in March, a factory survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday, with new orders boosting production.

The official purchasing managers' index rose to 50.5 in March from 50.2 a month prior, according to the NBS. This was the highest reading since March 2024 and it matched analysts' forecasts, according to Reuters.