A China-Europe freight train (Xi'an) from Turkmenistan in Central Asia carrying 42 containers of licorice, a kind of Chinese medicinal materials, arrived on Aug 31 at Xi'an International Port Station – located in Xi'an, capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – after a 22-day journey.

A China-Europe freight train (Xi'an) arrives in Xi'an from Turkmenistan in Central Asia. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

It was the first China-Europe freight train to import Chinese medicinal materials from Turkmenistan – and was also the first return train from Turkmenistan to Xi'an.

The pure natural wild licorice imported from Turkmenistan is rich in key traditional Chinese medicine ingredients such as glycyrrhizic acid and has excellent properties. It is the first-class raw material for traditional Chinese medicine licorice preparations.

The operation of the new freight train service has not only enriched the types of foreign commodities being imported by Shaanxi, but also unblocked the international logistics channel between Turkmenistan and Xi'an.

It is also viewed as having played a positive role in accelerating in-depth commerce and cooperation between Shaanxi and Central Asian countries and in promoting the continuous deepening of the Belt and Road construction.

Since the start of the year, the freight train operator China Railway Xi'an Bureau Group Co has continued to increase the services being offered by the China-Europe freight train (Xi'an).

From January to July this year, the train made a total of 2,217 trips, transporting 1.86 million metric tons of goods.