When a freight train carrying 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) worth of bicycle parts, cookware, and sundry other items left the Xiangfang Railway Station in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, the morning of Feb 27, it marked the opening of a new trade route to Russia.

The almost 6,000-km-long route goes through Manzhouli, in Inner Mongolia, and Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk in Russia before reaching its destination of Yekaterinburg in 10 days, and, according to Pei Chongming, director of the Xiangfang Railway Station, “It’s expected to take eight days to reach Novosibirsk and another two to Yekaterinburg and every container is equipped with a GPS to let us to know its real-time location every one or two hours.”
Freight train leaving Harbin’s Xiangfang Railway Station, Heilongjiang, for Russia, on Feb 27. [Photo/my399.com]

This is the most profitable route between China and Russia, in distance, train speed, and cost, according to Meng Qingwen, a GM at Hao Logistics Co, the joint venture that runs the service, who adds that, in the past, goods would take at least 40 days getting to Russia by sea via Dalian Port, Liaoning province, and there were many procedures in getting the goods, especially customs declarations and clearances.

This new route simplifies things and saves time since the goods go through only one entry-exit inspection and quarantine check by Harbin customs officials and it costs less than for other domestic train services to Russia because of the shorter distance. The train goes to Russia at least once a week and brings back Russian foods, crafts and industrial products from Yekaterinburg.

Meng concluded by saying,“It’s now possible for Harbin residents to buy more and fresher Russian products at a lower price.”

The train service is also expected to increase trade between Harbin and Europe and Hao Logistics says it plans to open more point-to-point train services to other Russian cities like Moscow.