China-Europe freight trains have been adopted this year to deliver merchandise ordered on Alibaba's online shopping platform Tmall during the "Singles' Day," which is similar to "Black Friday" in western countries.
A train carrying 200,000 parcels, which contained digital products, gym equipment and daily necessities, departed on Tuesday from the bonded zone at the Alataw Pass, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, marking the launching of the service, said Xie Zhiyu, a manager of Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao Network.
The parcels, which will arrive in Europe in 10 days, will be further delivered to over 20 countries by trucks, said Xie.
Over 4 million parcels are expected to be delivered to Europe via the trains departing from the Alataw Pass and cities of Zhengzhou and Yiwu.
Alataw Pass boasts the most China-Europe freight train lines in China, and it has been favored by cross-border e-commerce companies that plan to export westward. A total of 50 million orders in cross-border e-commerce is expected to go through the pass this year, said Di Yongjiang, an official of the bonded zone.
Alibaba turned Nov. 11 into a shopping bonanza in 2009. The day is celebrated by many young Chinese people as Singles' Day. The date was chosen because 11-11 resembles four "bare sticks," a Chinese term for the bachelors.