BEIJING -- The number of China-Europe freight train service surged by 18 percent year-on-year last month, hitting a record-high 1,585 trips, according to the China State Railway Group Co Ltd.

About 154,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of goods were shipped through the freight trains in August, up 19 percent from a year ago, according to the company.

During the first eight months, the number of China-Europe freight train trips rose 5 percent year-on-year to 10,575. The trains transported a total of 1.02 million TEU of goods, an increase of 6 percent from a year ago.