On April 1st, a Boeing 747-400F cargo aircraft, fully loaded with cross-border e-commerce goods, roared into the sky from Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport. The flight first landed briefly at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport in Astana, Kazakhstan, before resuming its journey towards its final destination—Budapest, the capital of Hungary in Central Europe.This marks the successful inaugural flight of the "Zhengzhou–Budapest" cross-border e-commerce cargo route, launched by China Gate Logistics Group. This logistics channel strengthens the efficiency and convenience of Henan's "Air Silk Road". Operated in collaboration with the British cargo airline One Air, the route is scheduled to run four times a week, with departures from Zhengzhou on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
As "silver wings" chart trade routes through the skies, "steel caravans" also traverse the land. Recently, the Zhengzhou International Land Port has been home to vigorous construction. The first phase of the China-Europe Express Railway Assembly Center (Zhengzhou)covers an area of 5,800 mu and will commence operations this May, amplifying Central China's global connectivity.
Zhengzhou soars on dual wings of air and rail, which forms itsnew pattern for opening up. In recent years, as China's pivotal transport crossroads, Zhengzhou has been making great efforts to leverage its hub advantages into development momentum. By consolidating westward corridors, expanding northern networks, and broadening its southern reach, the city is forging a railway assembly center. In 2024, for example, four new international routes were launched. Spanning the southern corridor between the Caspian and Black Sea, these routeslink 25 overseas hubs and eight entry-exit ports, vividly demonstrating westward momentum. Services to Russia have expanded significantly, with annual departures surpassing 1,400, a year-on-year increase of 10%. Additionally, continuous efforts have been made to increase the number of routes to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has promoted the regular operation of the integration of cold-chain transportation and freight trains.
From its single inaugural journey to its current rate of more than 5,000 trains per year, Zhengzhou International Land Port has soared from a participant to a pacesetter in a decade. By the end of 2024, the China-Europe Railway Express (Zhongyu) had operated over 13,000 trips, linking over 160 cities across more than 40 countries, with cargo volumes exceeding 10 million tons.
Within the Zhongyu Port Group's Zhengzhou Land Port Area, containers are being loaded and unloaded constantly, day and night. Products manufactured in Henan Province, such as auto parts, agricultural machinery, and fine chemicals, converge here and are transported to the Eurasian continent via frequently departing international trains. A pioneering "Railway Express + Market Procurement" model enables SMEs to leverage consolidated container shipments and streamlined customs clearance. This, in turn, allows enterprises producing low-volume goods like daily ceramics to access global logistics networks for the first time.
Moreover, Zhengzhou is intensifying its efforts to develop its hub economy as demonstrated by the frequent departures of China-Europe freight trains and the regular flights of fully loaded cargo planes for cross-border e-commerce. By building international logistics channels, it drives trade growth, and through the agglomerating effects of trade, it promotes industrial evolution, thus forming a virtuous cycle between the hub economy and industrial development.