BEIJING -- The freight train route linking China's small commodity hub of Yiwu with Europe has imported goods 56 times more than the same period last year, the customs authority said.

The total import and export value of goods handled by the route hit 16.63 billion yuan ($2.58 billion) in the first five months, up 193 percent year on year, said the General Administration of Customs.

Of the total volume, exports reached 13.76 billion yuan, up 144.6 percent year on year, while imports hit 2.87 billion yuan, 56 times more than the same period in the previous year.

The main import and export commodities include mechanical and electrical products, consumer goods, and textiles and clothing.

Wang Bin, head of a customs brokerage company in Yiwu, specializing in China-Europe freight train services' customs declaration agency business, said his company saw the agency's export business edge up more than 180 percent year on year, while its business on imports soared more than 100 times year on year in the first five months.

Shipping prices have been climbing since last year, coupled with the shortage of containers and warehouses, but the China-Europe freight train service has shown its competitive advantages of stability, safety, speed and resistance to the impact of the natural environment, and thus it has been favored by more enterprises, Wang said.

Exports of high value-added commodities such as mechanical equipment and liquid crystal panels have increased significantly this year, he added.

The cargo route linking Yiwu with Europe via Xinjiang in northwest China handled 1,399 China-Europe freight trains in 2020, soaring by 165 percent year on year.