SHIJIAZHUANG — A new rail freight service from North China's Baoding city to central and southern Asia became operational on Friday, the second international freight route for the Chinese city.

The train loaded with 1,000 metric tons of goods such as textiles, electronics and machinery parts, will reach Kashgar in the south of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region where the goods will be distributed to six countries by road.

The train is run by Taitong International Transport Co Ltd from Hebei province. The trip takes 15 to 18 days.

In April 2016, first international freight train from Baoding ran to Belarus.

Encouraged by the Belt and Road Initiative, more than 20 Chinese cities now run trains to central Asia and Europe.