JINAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- East China's Shandong Province has seen a significant increase in freight-train services to and from Europe and Central Asia despite the COVID-19 epidemic.
As of Friday, there were 1,200 "Qilu" train trips to and from Europe and Central Asia this year, up 46.3 percent year on year, according to the service operator Shandong High-speed Group.
The value of exports and imports via the train services exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.49 billion U.S. dollars), it said.
"Despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, we met our annual target of 1,200 train trips two and a half months ahead of schedule," said Ma Chunbo, general manager of Shandong High-speed Group's subsidiary in charge of the train service.
The group opened new routes this year linking China with Europe, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, as well as Japan and the Republic of Korea. Enditem
