A train carrying 50 refrigerated containers bound for the Biklyan Railway Station in western Russia departed from the Harbin International Container Center in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, on May 11.

It is the first block train to run between Harbin and Russia in 2019, marking the beginning of a new cross-border block train season.

Loaded with containers filled with $7.5 million worth of packaging machinery, the China-Russia block train is currently traveling from Harbin to Biklyan via Manzhouli Inland Port, passing through Zabaikalsk and Irkutsk in Russia. The journey is around 10,000 kilometers long and is expected to take 18 days.

The train has already transported 23,500 TEUs of containers on the Harbin-Biklyan route since the launch of the first block train on Feb 27, 2016. It has played an important role in linking northeastern China to eastern Russia.

A block train on the Harbin-Biklyan route loads containers at the Harbin International Container Center in Harbin, provincial capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, on May 11. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

A block train on the Harbin-Biklyan route departs from the Harbin International Container Center in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, on May 11. [Photo/Chinanews.com]