A railway worker gets on the first Central Asia cargo train in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, Aug. 25, 2016. The cargo train left Nantong on Thursday for Afghanistan's Hairatan, marking the start of Central Asia freight train service. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)
NANJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- A cargo train carrying 84 containers on Thursday departed from Nantong City, east China's Jiangsu Province, to the Afghanistan city of Hairatan.
It is China's first cargo train service to Afghanistan and it takes about 15 days passing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
China is Afghanistan's largest investment source country as well as the third largest trade partner, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.