A China-Europe Chang'an freight train departs Xi'an city on Aug 23, bound for Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. [Photo/Visual Xi'an]

A China-Europe Chang'an freight train left the Xi'an international port in Northwest China's Shaanxi province on Aug 23 for Vietnam's Hanoi, marking the first China-Vietnam freight train route connecting Shaanxi and Vietnam.

The train was loaded with 41 carriages of asbestos which were transported from Kazakhstan to Xi'an via the China-Europe freight train service.

In the past, it would take about 20 days to transport goods from Xi'an to Vietnam via the traditional rail-sea combined transportation. Thanks to the China-Vietnam freight train route via Guangxi's Pingxiang port, the journey is shortened to eight days, covering 2,384 km.

The total trade volume between China and ASEAN in the first seven months of this year amounted to 3.53 trillion yuan ($514.3 billion).

With reduced transport time, the new freight train service will enable Chinese enterprises to expand their presence in the ASEAN market.

In the first seven months of the year, the China-Europe Chang'an freight train made a total of 2,217 trips, carrying nearly 1.86 million metric tons of goods.

The month of July was a highlight, with 426 trips made – a record for a single month – and various indicators ranked Xi'an first among 72 cities which operate such trains in the country.