JINAN - A new freight train left Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, for Uzbekistan Friday morning.

The train carried 53 containers of goods valued at 23 million yuan ($3.6 million), including textile machinery produced in Shandong. It will travel about 7,300 kilometers for 13 days to arrive at its destination in Uzbekistan.

This is the first China-Asia freight train service launched in the city, which will bring new opportunities for Jinan's development, said the local railway bureau.

The province has eight international freight train routes. A total of 70 China-Europe and China-Asia freight trains departed from the province in the first three months of this year.