HANGZHOU - The number of Europe-bound freight trains departing from the city of Yiwu in East China reached 296 in the first half of this year, up 151.1 percent year-on-year, railway sources said Sunday.

A train loaded with 100 TEUs of cargo departed from Yiwu, the country's small-commodity hub, bound for Madrid, Spain, on Friday afternoon. It was the 300th China-Europe freight train to leave the city since Jan 1.

By Friday, a total of nearly 25,000 TEUs of commodities had been transported by freight trains from Yiwu to Europe.

Since May 5, the city has seen the departure of 20 or more China-Europe trains on a weekly basis.

Railway authorities say the city aims to launch 1,000 freight trains to Europe in 2020.