China's "One Belt, One Road" program to create a network of trade routes across Eurasia took a major step forward this week when a freight train bearing export goods disembarked from the United Kingdom bound for China's Zhejiang province.
"The first rail freight service from the UK to China departed from the rail terminal at DP World’s London Gateway port in Essex on April 10, carrying containers containing exports including soft drinks, vitamins, pharmaceuticals, baby products and whisky," according to an article by the Railway Gazette.
"The containers are expected to take three weeks to cover the 12 000 km route via the Channel Tunnel, France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan to the city of Yiwu in China’s eastern Zhejiang province," adds the article.
Included in the article is a soundbite from Xubin Feng, chairman of Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co., who says the company has "great faith in the UK as an export nation and rail provides an excellent alternative for moving large volumes of goods over long distances faster."
More coverage of the historic train trip is also available from The Times of India.
FULL STORY: London joins the Silk Road as UK – China rail freight service sets off
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