A freight train, loaded with materials and equipment for railway construction, departed from Jinan in Shandong province, heading for Serbia on Sept 24.

These materials and equipment will support the construction of the Hungary-Serbia railway, a 350-kilometer-long electrified mixed passenger-freight railway with a designed maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

It is the first China-Europe freight train heading for Serbia. 

It will leave China and trundle through Russia, Poland, Belarus and Hungary before reaching its destination. The whole trip will take 25 days.

The China-Europe freight train service, a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative, was launched eight years ago and has experienced rapid growth ever since, officials said.