CHENGDU - A freight train loaded with meat from Germany arrived at Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, Saturday, sources with Chengdu Qingbaijiang International Railway Port said Sunday.

The train took 13 days to travel 12,000 km from Nuremberg, Germany, to Chengdu, and was loaded with 21.9 tons of German pork. All the meat products will be put on the Chinese market after passing quarantine inspection, said Sichuan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

The train saves 45 days of transport time compared with shipping, and saves costs of 10,000 yuan ($1,448) per ton when compared with air freight.

The China-Europe freight train marks the opening of the railway channel for China to import meat products from Europe.

The Chengdu Qingbaijiang International Railway Port, train's terminal, was approved as western China's first meat import inland port by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on March 28.