China to Spain by train in 21-days – world’s longest rail link opens

China has established a train link with Spain – a goods train covered the 13,000-Km distance in 21-days and has arrived in Madrid after leaving Yiwu in eastern China. This now becomes the longest railway route in the world surpassing the famous Trans-Siberian railway of Russia that links Moscow to Vladivostok near Russia's border with China. The new train is carrying a major wholesale center for small consumer goods – its 40 shipping containers contain goods made in Zhejiang province and include spinning tops for children and cutting tools.
It left China on November 18 and passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, and France during its 21-day trip. This journey time was over 10 days shorter than if the goods had been shipped by sea. This has been revealed by Spain's public works ministry.
On its return journey, the train will bring back wine, olive oil and cured ham.
This is a strategy of developing a new ‘Silk Road’ is how Li Qiang, the Governor of China's Zhejiang province where Yiwu is located, said in Madrid.
Incidentally, China already has a regular direct freight train service to Germany, Europe's largest economy and it is the European Union's biggest source of imports, as per the European Commission.