China-Europe freight trains to and from Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, made more than 1,600 trips in the first half of this year, almost double the figure for the same period last year, local authorities said Thursday.

Together they carried more than 1.3 million tonnes of goods from January to the end of June, 1.9 times the volume of the first half of last year, according to the Xi'an International Trade & Logistics Park.

Xi'an launched its first China-Europe freight train in 2013. Currently, the train service has 15 routes linking Xi'an with 44 cities in 14 countries, including Kazakhstan, Russia, Belgium and Germany. More than 5,000 types of goods, including automobiles, textile raw materials, household cleaners and personal care products, are transported by the freight trains.

In recent years, Xi'an has gradually become a freight-transfer hub for many domestic cities. According to Sun Yimin, director of the administrative committee of Xi'an International Trade & Logistics Park, cargoes from 29 provincial-level regions, including Hubei, Anhui and Fujian, have come to Xi'an and been distributed overseas.

Despite the COVID-19 epidemic, the trains are running smoothly, helping countries and regions along the Belt and Road to cope with the outbreak, stabilize trade and resume production.

From January to May, more than 5,500 tonnes of anti-epidemic materials were transported via China-Europe freight trains from Xi'an to Central Asian and European countries, according to the China Railway Xi'an Group Co., Ltd.