A freight train departs Yiwu, Zhejiang province for Central Asia on April 23. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]

The Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe freight train service to Central Asia commemorated its 10th anniversary on April 23.

This is the 2024th freight train trip to travel from Yiwu to five Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

In April 2013, the maiden Yiwu-Central Asia freight train departed Yiwu for Almaty, Kazakhstan. Ten years on, there are now 18 operational routes from Yiwu, including the Yiwu-Madrid, Yiwu-Prague, and Yiwu-Moscow lines, that are linked to more than 50 countries and regions in Eurasia.

During the past few years, China and the five Central Asian countries have been deepening pragmatic cooperation in fields such as industry, investment and trade.

China's trade value with the five countries surged by around 40 percent to $70.2 billion in 2022, and the outbound direct investment from China to the five countries reached $970 million.

In 2022, the Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe freight train service facilitated 7.55 billion yuan ($1.09 billion) worth of trade, an increase of 17 times compared to 2013.