CHANGSHA -- A regular e-commerce cargo air route was launched on Thursday to link the central Chinese city of Changsha with Moscow, Russia.

At 12:24 am, the cargo flight operated by Cainiao Network, the delivery arm of Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba, took off from Changsha Huanghua International Airport, carrying 20 tons of goods in nearly 40,000 parcels including clothes and household items.

The service will include three flights per week, Cainiao Network said, adding that after the launch of the new air route, goods manufactured in Hunan will be delivered to Russian consumers in about 10 days, down from the previous 20-30 days.

Changsha, capital of Hunan province, opened a temporary e-commerce air freight route to Los Angeles earlier this year to meet the surging international logistics demands amid the pandemic.

Cross-border e-commerce is the most dynamic business model and an important stabilizer in international trade, said Yang Li, head of the logistics and port affairs office of the Changsha government.

Since the start of 2020, cross-border e-commerce applications in Changsha have increased nearly 50-fold year on year, she added.