On November 18th, the Second China Europe Railway Express International Cooperation Forum (hereinafter referred to as the "Forum") was successfully held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, the starting point of the ancient Silk Road.

The theme of this forum is "Connecting Asia and Europe, Sharing the Future", which includes an opening ceremony and keynote forum, project signing, parallel forums, and a retrospective exhibition of China Europe freight train operation practices. The forum will last for one day. On the morning of the 18th, the opening ceremony and keynote forum will be held. At the opening ceremony, Zhao Yide, Secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee, Zhou Haibing, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, and Guo Zhuxue, Chairman of China Railway Group, delivered speeches successively. At the keynote forum, Xu Wenguang, Executive Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, Alexei Liakhnovich, Minister of Transport and Communications of Belarus, Farzane Sadegh, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran, Liele Siveile, Minister of Public Works and Transport of Laos, Mamet Akmamedov, Minister of Railway Transport of Turkmenistan, Talgat Ardebergnov, Chairman of Kazakhstan State Railway Corporation, and Sun Weidong, Secretary General of the China Central Asia Mechanism, delivered speeches, discussing in-depth exchanges on promoting high-quality development of the China Europe freight train and promoting regional open economic development. On the afternoon of the 18th, three parallel forums were held on the development of multiple channels, efficient and safe transportation, and innovative and integrated development, focusing on in-depth discussions on promoting the construction of the "four major systems" of China Europe freight trains.

This forum has produced a total of 111 achievements, a significant increase compared to the first forum. Among them, I signed the Initiative on Deepening China Europe (Asia) Train Cooperation with five Central Asian countries, the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Construction of the "the Belt and Road" jointly issued the China Europe Train Development Report (2025) with the China Railway Group, the China Railway Group issued the fourth batch of the China Europe train schedule, the container companies affiliated to the China Railway Group joined the Intermodal Corridor Multimodal Transport Company and established the Asia Europe Interconnection Holding Company in conjunction with relevant local platform enterprises, Shaanxi and Xi'an signed a cooperation agreement to jointly build the capacity of trans Caspian international transport routes, the China Development Bank and the Export Import Bank set up a special loan for China Europe train, the launch of China Central Asia international human tourism special train, and the Xinhua News Agency, China Economic Information Agency issued the Light Rail Chronicle - Time and Space in Eurasia and other important achievements were released at the opening ceremony. 16 cooperation projects between China and Europe freight trains were signed at the main forum, including 3 projects related to platform co construction, 4 projects related to financial integration, 6 projects related to facility connectivity, and 3 projects related to trade facilitation.

During the forum, a retrospective exhibition on the operation practice of China Europe freight trains will be held simultaneously. The retrospective exhibition mainly includes six parts: introduction, overall effectiveness, the "four major systems" of China Europe freight trains, local practices, countries along the route, and conclusion. Based on the review of the overall operation effectiveness of China Europe freight trains, the exhibition systematically summarizes the fruitful achievements in the development of China Europe freight trains in recent years, as well as their positive role in promoting open development in various regions and deepening economic, trade and cultural exchanges among countries along the route. It vividly demonstrates the significant development achievements of China Europe freight trains and is highly praised by domestic and foreign guests.

This forum is jointly hosted by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Transport, the General Administration of Customs, China Railway Group, and the People's Government of Shaanxi Province. More than 450 representatives from 45 countries and regions attended the forum. More than 150 foreign guests, including government officials, diplomats, representatives of enterprises, business associations, and international organizations from countries along the China Europe freight train such as Bulgaria and Belarus, as well as more than 300 Chinese guests, including officials from relevant ministries, provincial (regional, municipal) people's governments, well-known research institutions, think tank experts and scholars, and enterprise representatives.

Editor: Tang Yun