The train loaded with steel coils, garments and daily items, valued at $1.8 million, departed from Ganzhou city Friday and is expected to leave China through Horgos in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, arriving in Tashkent 12 days later.

More than 4,000 freight train journeys have been made between Chinese and European and central Asian cities since August 2011, with the opening of the Chongqing-Duisburg Line, according to China Railway Corporation.

The trains currently operate between 28 Chinese cities and 29 cities in 11 European countries.