A freight train carrying donated face masks and other anti-coronavirus supplies is currently on the way to Madrid, originating from Yiwu in the east of China. The service, which will run a weekly basis, is free of charge for all donations from China to Spain.

The service is an initiative of China Railway Express YXE and marks the reopening of the line, which had been closed up till Saturday due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. “We have decided to offer free shipment, customs clearance and services to all donations from China to Spain using our platform”, said Carlos Santana, General Manager of the operating company.

Donation

The donation included 100.000 disposable medical Timex masks, 15.000 Gauze masks and 800 protection suits for Spain to keep fighting the coronavirus outbreak. It was the first China-Europe freight train to carry anti-epidemic supplies to Europe, which will arrive in Madrid in about two weeks.

The materials on the first train were donated by YXE Trading Service Group and Yiwu Yitong Europe Logistics Covery. It can easily be recognised, as the containers shout slogans (in Spanish) as ‘Sunshine always comes after the rain’, ‘The light of hope has risen on the horizon’ and ‘One Belt One Road’, expressing the good wishes of the Chinese people.

Back in 2014

The Yiwu-Madrid train was one of the first on the New Silk Road. Already in November 2014, the first freight departed the business hub of Yiwu, making the 13,052kilometer jounrey to Madrid. Since then, some 1,200 trains have carried over 96,700 containers to Europe.

“As many of you already know, YXE was born with the commitment of being not only a logistic alternative but a true bridge of understanding between China and Europe within the BRI”, said Santana. “The special circumstances that we are living pushed us to implement extraordinary responses.”