The Russian website sputniknews.cn reports that on the 15th of Feb, a specialized refrigerated train loaded with 135 tons of tomatoes and 25 tons of colored peppers left China for Russia. This is also the first train to export agricultural products from Sichuan.
According to online news from Sichuan provincial government a train loaded with Panzhihua early spring vegetables left Chengdu international railway station for Russia on February 9th. It is scheduled to arrive in Moscow after a journey of 12 days. This is both the first time that agricultural products have been exported from Sichuan to Russia, and the first time that a specialized train has provided refrigerated transport for the entire journey.
The news stressed that Sichuan province has previously exported agricultural products on the China-Europe Railway Express, but the quantity was small and consisted mainly of fruit. It was not a specialized transport. Previously the vegetable trade between China and Russia consisted predominantly of border trade. This specialized transport was a direct supply that resulted from vegetables having become the "raw material" for foreign brands.
The train carried 15 containers fully loaded with 135 tons of tomatoes and 25 tons of colored peppers, all freshly harvested. The train will cross the border at Erenhot and pass through Siberia to Moscow. Upon arrival, the vegetables will be processed by a Russian import and export company and placed on the shelves of famous stores. Furthermore, the vegetables will be sold in Moscow's largest agricultural trade center, which is at the center of the Eastern European market.
The China-Europe Railway Express will make two trips to Russia per month. In January alone there have already been more than 80 trips to Europe.
The China-Europe Railway Express (abbreviated as 'CR Express') is organized by the head office of China Railway. It operates with a fixed number of trains, routes, timetable, and scheduled arrival and departure times for the entire journey. CR Express moves shipping containers between China and Europe, and to all the countries along the infrastructure of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative. According to the "China-Europe Railway Express Construction Development Plan (2016-2020)", China plans to establish 43 railway routes between China and Europe before 2020.
Source: finance.sina.com.cn