During the month of December we have celebrated the fifth anniversary of the first cargo train Yiwu-Madrid (China Railway Express). In November of 2014, the Chinese and Spanish Governments both witnessed the longest railway route in the world being born. By then, the company responsible of the initiative, Yixinou, was able to manage one train to one destination. Five years later, we are confident to reach a total number of 500 trains operating to 11 different worldwide destinations departing or arriving in Yiwu, East China’s Zhejiang Province.

Mobility plays a key role in the EU economy. However, the EU transport sector still relies heavily on fossil fuels and is responsible for one quarter of Europe’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — a share that keeps growing. In addition, the sector is a significant source of air pollution despite significant progress achieved since 1990, especially of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as well as the main source of environmental noise in Europe. Current efforts to limit the sector’s environmental and climate impacts in Europe are not sufficient to meet the EU’s long-term climate and environmental policy objectives.