CHONGQING -- The number of international parcel containers transported through the Yuxinou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) railway, the first China-Europe freight train route, topped 1,000 on Sunday, local authorities said.

The route has so far transported 445,100 international parcels, weighing 6,171 tons with a value of nearly $300 million, since Chongqing was approved to transport these via railway in 2016, the China Railway Chengdu Group Co Ltd said.

"The Yuxinou railway is the earliest route of China-Europe freight train services with the most train trips made," said Zhang Xin, head of the departure station of the Yuxinou, Tuanjie Village Station.

As the COVID-19 pandemic blocked sea and air transport last year, leading to over 1,500 tons of backlogs of international parcels across China at one stage, the China-Europe freight train has served as a lifeline for international trade.

In 2020, the freight trains made 12,400 journeys nationwide and transported nearly 1.14 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo, up by 50 percent and 56 percent year-on-year, respectively.