The first ever UK to China export train departed on Monday, April 10, laden with containers full of British goods, the company said in its press release.
The train will make the 7,500 mile, three-week-long journey, departing from DP World London Gateway’s state-of-the-art rail terminal in South Essex, bound for Yiwu in the Zhe Jiang province in eastern China. Products on board include soft drinks, vitamins, pharmaceuticals and baby products.
This inaugural export train bound for China departed just under three months after the first ever import train from China arrived in the UK.
The service is part of China's One Belt, One Road programme - reviving the ancient Silk Road trading routes to the West.
After passing through the channel tunnel into France and Belgium, the DB Cargo locomotive will call in Duisburg, Germany before InterRail pull the cargo through Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazahkstan before the train crosses to Yiwu, China.
Container operator OneTwoThree Logistics is overseeing the transportation and booking of cargo for the UK/China rail freight trains, in conjunction with Yiwu Timex Industrial Investments Co., which is running the service with China Railway Container.
This first consignment of cargo to go by rail – which is cheaper and less restrictive than air freight and faster than sea freight – comes less than two weeks after the triggering of Article 50 and the start of the formal process of leaving the European Union, which has placed an emphasis on the UK to secure trade deals with countries all over the world.