On March 21， a China-Europe Railway Express freight train （Chengdu & Chongqing） loaded with automobiles and electronic products was leaving Tuanjiecun Railway Station， Chongqing for Duisburg， Germany. It takes 16 days to arrive in the destination.

Twenty-six diplomatic envoys to China， 13 of whom are ambassadors， from European， Asian， and African countries and regions including Portugal， Albania， Laos， and Nigeria， were watching this train fade out of their sights.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs had invited them to visit Chongqing from March 20 to March 22. As a “Mountain City” in China， Chongqing impressed these guests a lot with advanced manufacturing， transportation logistics and also in many other respects.

“Though as an inland city， Chongqing has built a transportation layout so well-connected to the world and a state-of-the-art transportation system， which is very astonishing.” said Duarte Pinto Da Rocha， Minister-Counselor of the Embassy of Portugal in China. He added that some people may have heard of it or read about it in books， but the experience was totally different when seeing it in person.

In 2022， more than 5，000 trips were made by the China-Europe Railway Express freight train （Chongqing & Chengdu）. The number of trips handled by the two cities has topped 22，000 since its launch， accounting for 30% of that of the whole country.

Besides this westward corridor to Europe， Chongqing also boasts southward channels linking the city with Southeast Asia， namely the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and China-Laos Railway.

China-Laos Railway kicked off its operation in December 3， 2021， with Chongqing among the first batch of cities that launched the China-Laos international freight train service. On the first day of 2023， Chongqing sent a batch of made-in-Chongqing NEVs to ASEAN countries via this channel.

Khouanchay Iemsouthi， Counselor at the Embassy of Lao PDR in China， keenly recognized the importance of the China-Laos Railway， emphasizing that the railway not only contributes to Lao economy but also benefits other ASEAN countries.

“Since its operation a year ago， there have been so many achievements that were beyond our expectation” said Khouanchay. Now most products shipped by ASEAN countries are agricultural products， but more goods are expected to be shipped via this way.

By the time of December 3， 2022， when the China-Laos Railway marked its first anniversary， it had opened 24 passenger and freight stations along the line and carried a total of around 11.2 million tonnes of goods and transported 8.5 million passengers， with cargo categories expanding from a dozen to more than 1，200， yielding fruitful outcomes.

Moreover， Chongqing has developed a northward Chongqing-Manzhouli-Russia International Railway Logistics Channel， an eastward channel via the Yangtze River Golden Waterway and the International Aviation Network， contributing to Chongqings major channel options for going overseas. These all-direction channels reach more than 300 cities in over 100 countries and regions across the world.

H.E. Selim Belortaja， head of this delegation and Albanian Ambassador to China， praised the inter-connectivity of Chongqing. “The inter-connectivity of Chongqing in all directions including west， east， north， and south， provides great space for opening-up and cooperation. It is also home to many industries involving motorcycles， automobiles， electronics， and so on， which are very inviting sectors for all other countries.”

“It is true what we heard before our visit. Chongqing certainly is a pearl of China in many aspects，” Belortaja said.

Text/Xinhua News Agency

3月21日，在重慶團結村站，一趟滿載汽車整車、電子產(chǎn)品的中歐班列（成渝）正緩緩駛離，在16天后到達德國杜伊斯堡。

此刻，目送這趟列車遠去的有來自葡萄牙、阿爾巴尼亞、老撾、尼日利亞等歐洲、亞洲、非洲國家和地區(qū)的26位駐華使節(jié)，其中包括13位駐華大使。

3月20日到22日，外交部組織駐華使節(jié)代表團對重慶進行了為期3天的參訪，“山城”重慶在先進制造、交通物流等多個方面所取得的成就給駐華使節(jié)們留下了深刻印象。

“重慶作為一座內(nèi)陸城市，交通規(guī)劃通達世界，鐵路、航空、航運等系統(tǒng)如此發(fā)達，十分讓人驚訝?！逼咸蜒礼v華大使館公使銜參贊榮斌諾表示，可能一些人對此有所耳聞，或是在書上看到過，但是親眼看到感覺還是不一樣。

2022年，中歐班列（成渝）全年開行超5000列。成渝兩地累計開行中歐班列超2.2萬列，開行量約占全國30%。

除了通往歐洲的西向通道，重慶也能通過南向的西部陸海新通道、中老鐵路等和東南亞國家相連。

中老鐵路于2021年12月3日全線建成通車，重慶是第一批開行中老鐵路國際班列的城市之一。2023年首日，重慶通過中老鐵路，向東盟國家運送了一批“重慶造”新能源汽車。

老撾駐華大使館參贊寬贊·燕素提對中老鐵路給予了高度評價，認為這條鐵路不僅對老撾經(jīng)濟社會發(fā)展發(fā)揮了重大作用，而且還惠及其他東盟國家。

“中老鐵路正式通車運營一年多來，許多數(shù)據(jù)都超出預計?！睂捹澅磉_期許，現(xiàn)在東盟國家出口到中國的產(chǎn)品大部分是農(nóng)產(chǎn)品，不過未來出口產(chǎn)品的品種有望進一步增加。

截至2022年12月3日，中老鐵路正式通車運營一年，全線開通24個客貨運站，累計發(fā)送旅客850萬人次、貨物1120萬噸，貨物品類從10多種拓展至1200多種，交出了一份亮眼的成績單。

在重慶開放通道體系中，還有北向的“渝滿俄”國際鐵路班列，東向的長江黃金水道，以及國際航空網(wǎng)絡通道。目前，重慶東西南北四向聯(lián)通的通道網(wǎng)絡，覆蓋100多個國家（地區(qū)）的300余個城市。

此次參訪的駐華使節(jié)代表團團長、阿爾巴尼亞駐華大使塞利姆·貝洛爾塔亞對重慶的互聯(lián)互通水平深表贊許：“重慶已經(jīng)形成東西南北四向聯(lián)通的交通格局，為開放合作提供了廣闊空間。不僅如此，重慶還擁有摩托車、汽車、電子產(chǎn)品等眾多產(chǎn)業(yè)，對各方都頗具吸引力?！?/p>

“來之前，我就聽別人說重慶是中國的一顆明珠。現(xiàn)在看來，這句話不假?！必惵鍫査喺f。

文/新華社