A freight train bound for Hairatan, Afghanistan departs Nantong, Jiangsu province for the first time on August 25.[Photo/Xinhua]

A freight train bound for Hairatan, Afghanistan departed Nantong, Jiangsu province for the first time on August 25.

The 7,000-kilometer-long international freight line will export goods to the country from Nantong's Haimen Industrial Park, China's largest textile product distribution center.

The route aims to promote trade connections with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, and was launched by Jiangsu Qingeng Industrial Co and companies from Afghanistan, such as Watan Group, as part of the construction of a China-Afghanistan distribution center.

The route takes 15 days to complete and passes through Alashankou in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Two trains, with a minimum capacity of 90 TEUs, will complete journeys on the route each month.