HORGOS (Xinhua) — A cross-border freight train loaded with 220 Japanese made vehicles left the Horgos border port in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for Kazakhstan on Sunday.

The vehicles are expected to reach markets in Central Asian countries in about three days. According to Chinese sources, tt only took 30 minutes for customs officials with the Horgos port to finish the customs clearance process.

“In the past, Japanese vehicles that headed to Central Asia needed to cross the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea to reach Russia first and then were distributed to Kazakhstan”, said Li Xuefeng, the manager of an international freight transport agency. “It took about 80 days in total.”

Li said, through the new transportation channel in Horgos, now it only takes about 30 days:

So the logistics costs were lowered which will help enhance the competitiveness of Japanese vehicles in Central Asian markets.

The number of China-Europe freight trains travelling via Horgos Port has increased to over 4,720 in 2020, a record high despite the impact of COVID-19. The Horgos Port has been actively taking measures such as expanding its routes and cutting down customs clearance time to boost transportation capacity.