MOSCOW - Russian Post, the national postal operator of the country, on Tuesday announced that it plans to launch a regular mail train between Moscow and Beijing as part of the efforts to develop Russia's mail delivery service.

"A mail train consisting of 18 special mail cars instead of cars hitched to passenger trains will circulate between Moscow and Beijing," Dmitry Strashnov, chief executive of Russian Post, was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

Strashnov said his company and Russian Railways are jointly developing a "powerful and reliable logistics route" between Europe and Asia, to connect China-proposed initiatives on the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The grand blueprint, which includes the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is an ambitious vision Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward in 2013, with Russia being an integral part of the land route.

"Currently, there is much talk about the Silk Road (Economic Belt) and about opportunities it presents for the transit business," Strashnov said, "Russian Post will put the ideas into practice in the next three years."

Last year, Russian Post started mail delivery service to China in accordance with a strategic railway cooperation agreement signed in 2014 between the two countries.

Last September, Russian Post and China Post signed an agreement pledging to strengthen cooperation and promote cross-border and online trade.