Europe and Vietnam now rail linked via China! The service will carry Vietnamese produce such as tropical fruit, rice, coffee and aquatics to Europe.

Eventually, the fifty services between China and Europe could also be expanded to other Asian countries including Thailand and Singapore.

The China-Europe freight train service starts to extend to Southeast Asia, as a returned train made a brief stop on March 18, 2018 in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality before continuing toward Vietnam. [Photo: liangjiang.gov.cn]

There’s been an incredible growth in the number of train services between China and Europe over the last few years.

These services have offered exporters and importers the benefits of rapid transportation – traditionally only available with expensive air freight – at a fraction of the cost.

Meanwhile, the overall growth of trade between China and Europe has meant that traditional sea freight has also continued to grow.

The news comes after we reported earlier that the Dutch capital of Amsterdam now has a direct train service to Yiwu, near Shanghai.

The 7,000 mile route will take some three weeks to complete, and according to specialist publication joc.com, the service is the second rail link between The Netherlands and China.

Notably, Amsterdam is very close indeed to Rotterdam – one of the most important shipping ports in Europe.