A special China Railway Express train which departed from Belgium, arrived at the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province with 160 imported European-made Volvo XC90 and V40 cars on Wednesday.

It marked the debut of a regular new freight service that will help enable Volvo to cut the waiting time of customers in China massively.

The train -- which set off from Ghent in Belgium and traveled for 16 days and more than 10,000 kilometers -- arrived at Xi'an Vehicle Port.

"Volvo Cars will actively engage in the strategic Belt and Road Initiative," said Yuan Xiaolin, president & CEO of Volvo Car Asia Pacific.

The automaker said that thanks to the China Railway Express special train, the waiting time for Shaanxi customers, from ordering to picking up their cars, will be cut by more than two thirds.

Volvo said that as a result, it would be more capable of meeting local market demand and serving local customers.

The automaker is also exporting China-made car products to Europe using another  China Railway Express service, and transporting vehicle parts and other finished auto products.

The Volvo S90 premium sedan, expected to set a benchmark for China's automobile manufacturing, is among those products being exported to Europe through China Railway Express.

Volvo started exporting the S90 units produced at its Daqing factory in Liaoning province using China Railway Express in May last year, and more than 13,500 units of the model have since been transported to the Continent by the special train.