Interview: China-Europe express train has significant advantages Finland-China railway trade has great potential - visit to Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Vile Skinnery

Helsinki, March 27 (Xinhua) --

Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Haochen Chen Jing

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency, Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Vile Skinnari said that the advantages of China-Europe express trains are remarkable, and finland and China have great potential for railway trade. Finland welcomes the establishment of more rail transport links with China and wants to be a gateway and hub for links between Europe and China.

Skinnari said that the China-Europe express train greatly shortens the freight time and has a significant advantage in terms of time cost. At the same time, rail freight has a low carbon footprint and has obvious environmental protection and sustainability advantages.

He believes that rail transport provides complementary and alternative modes of transport for enterprises, helping to increase the speed of freight. The opening of China-Europe express trains and the continuous increase in routes have brought greater flexibility to the import and export of China, Finland and other Nordic countries.

He pointed out that the volume of rail freight between Finland and China will increase significantly in 2020 and has great potential for development. For example, he said that the demand for high-quality food in the Chinese market is growing, and Finland's exports to China in this field are performing well, and he hopes that foreign trade cooperation will be closer and smoother in the future.

Skinnari said finland is very happy to see enterprises of the two countries expand and deepen trade cooperation through China-Europe express trains, and looks forward to further strengthening interconnection between the two countries; Finland hopes to become a hub between Europe and China by virtue of its own advantages.

Skinnari said that Finland's import and export procedures are convenient, and it can also provide multi-style intermodal transportation such as sea and air by relying on the convenience of geographical location. At present, Finland has invested heavily in upgrading the digitization of railway infrastructure and cross-border connectivity, and is expected to become an important gateway and hub connecting East and West.

The first China-Europe express line between China and Finland opened in 2017, connecting the city of Xi'an in China with the Finnish city of Kouvola. At present, there are a number of China-Europe express lines originating or transiting through Finland, connecting Xi'an, Chongqing, Suzhou and other cities in China.

【Editor-in-Charge: Yan Hai】