The Industry Cooperation Forum for Asia-Europe Interconnection themed "Join Hands in Building a High-Efficiency Freight Railway Network between China and Europe" was convened in Zhengzhou on July 17.

The forum invited nearly 100 industrial representatives as well as scholars and experts from European countries and China to discuss on the current development and outlook of the cooperation for Asia-Europe interconnection as well as business opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Yuehua, executive vice mayor of the Zhengzhou municipal government, said the Zhengzhou-Europe Railway Express trains have achieved a high-frequency and balanced departure-arrival operation with eight departures and eight arrivals per week.

He added that the network for goods collection and distribution based on the Zhengzhou-Europe Express trains cover 126 cities of 24 countries in Europe and central Asia.

"Eurasian rail operations have improved over the years, and the strong improvements in infrastructure, customs, procedures and frequencies have enabled the growth of Eurasian rail freight in recent years," said Sandra Géhénot, head of the Freight Department of International Union of Railways.

She also said the Eurasian rail freight had big potentials for further growth and that a total rail potential of 640,000 TEU is forecasted for 2027, compared with a volume of 140,000 TEU in 2016.

Furthermore, she gave suggestions on fostering a sustainable development of Eurasian rail freight that market players should improve the efficiency of their operations and tailor their products to evolving customer needs.

Representatives from various institutions in attendance also spoke at the forum, including the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport, FERRMED and the World Bank, as well as those from companies hailing from countries including Austria, Germany, Poland, and Switzerland.

The forum was organized by the Zhengzhou municipal government and FERRMED, as specified in a memorandum of cooperation signed between the two parties in September last year.