The first freight train from the Chinese city of Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, departed Wednesday for the Turkmen port of Turkmenbashi, marking the official launch of a new section of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor, Xinhua reported.

The new route is expected to serve as a key link for transporting Chinese goods to Central Asia and Europe.

The train, consisting of 100 standard containers carrying clothing, accessories, metal parts, and other products, will pass through the Khorgos border checkpoint into Kazakhstan. From there, it will continue through Almaty, Tashkent, and Ashgabat before reaching its destination in Turkmenistan. The cargo will then be shipped across the Caspian Sea to the Azerbaijani port of Baku.

The route is designed to ease the load on the existing corridor through Kazakhstan’s port of Aktau and speed up deliveries of Chinese goods to Central Asia and Central-Eastern Europe.

This marks the 26th international railway route launched in Zhejiang Province under the China–Europe freight train initiative.