“Steel Camel Fleet” Gallops Across Land-Sea Hubs

From: Lianyungang Daily Updated: 2026-01-14 12:29

On January 1, a train loaded with South Korean auto parts sounded its whistle and set off from the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base, heading for Kazakhstan. This marked the beginning of the 2026 China-Europe (Central Asia) Railway Express transportation in our city. According to statistics, in 2025, the China-Europe (Central Asia) Railway Express departing from Lianyungang made a cumulative total of 915 trips, and the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base handled over 75,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo, both hitting new record highs. This has injected strong impetus into the high-quality co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the smooth flow of both domestic and international dual circulations.

As the first international economic and trade cooperation entity project to be implemented after the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative, last year, the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base relied on the China-Europe (Central Asia) Railway Express to continuously build stable and efficient two-way logistics channels, achieving remarkable results in business innovation and service upgrades. The base launched its first photovoltaic industry special train and innovatively applied the “one-container-through” model for the transit transportation of Kazakh wheat, significantly improving cross-border logistics efficiency. In addition, by constructing the New Eurasian Land-Sea Multimodal Transport Data Corridor Platform, it initially achieved full-process visualization of freight train transportation across 16 countries in Eurasia, providing strong support for the smooth and stable operation of industrial and supply chains in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

It is noteworthy that from the steady development during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period to the new breakthroughs in 2025, the energy level of the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base has been continuously elevated. Currently, the base has become an important logistics hub connecting East Asia, Central Asia, and Europe. It radiates westward to five major exit ports, including Khorgos, Alashankou, and Kashgar, and has opened six high-quality routes to the five Central Asian countries and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan route, covering more than 100 freight stations across the Eurasian continent. Westbound freight trains carry goods such as machinery and equipment and electronic products deep into the Central Asian market, while eastbound freight trains have incorporated new cargo types such as gold concentrate and chrysotile asbestos into their transportation systems. Among them, the transit volume of goods such as potassium chloride and urea has consistently ranked among the top in the country, gradually forming a cross-border multimodal transport circulation network of “Central Asia-Lianyungang-Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia”.

“As the core fulcrum for Lianyungang Port’s westward opening-up, we have always taken digitalization, green development, and intelligence as our development paths, continuously polishing the ‘Steel Camel Fleet’ brand,” said Cheng, Deputy Manager of the Production and Operation Department of Lianyungang China-Kazakhstan International Logistics Co., Ltd. In recent years, the base has vigorously promoted the construction of an information system, achieving intelligent scheduling, visual operation, and partially unmanned operations in some processes. At the same time, it has actively explored customized routes and full-process supply chain services to help customers reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Standing at a new starting point, the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base will continue to deepen cross-border logistics collaboration with countries along the Central Asian and European routes, improve two-way interconnection networks, expand “Railway Express Plus” comprehensive services, and promote efficient linkage among multiple links such as ports, railways, and customs. It will continue to contribute “Lianyungang strength” to promoting economic and trade exchanges between Asia and Europe and the high-quality co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.