Photo taken on March 31, 2021 shows a China-Europe freight train (blue) at Suifenhe Railway Port in Suifenhe, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

HARBIN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's land ports of Manzhouli and Suifenhe on the China-Russia border have seen over 4,500 China-Europe freight trains this year, according to the China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd.

As of Friday, the two major ports, one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the other in Heilongjiang Province, had handled 4,554 cross-border freight trains, up 25 percent compared with the same period last year.

They have transported 436,632 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of cargo, up 31 percent year on year.

Over 50 China-Europe freight train routes pass through the two ports, linking more than 10 countries with 60 Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Changsha and Tianjin, among others.

China put into operation the China-Europe freight train service in 2011, which has since served as a crucial link for trade and economic cooperation across the Eurasian continent.