URUMQI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 5,000 China-Europe freight trains have travelled through Alataw Pass, a major rail port in northwest China, local customs said Monday.

Alataw Pass in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is one of the busiest land ports on the modern Silk Road and connects the East Asia economic rim and the European economic circle.

According to the customs office of the pass, 816 westbound freight trains have travelled through the pass in 2018, bringing the total number of trains passing through the transport hub to 5,000 since 2011, when the Yuxinou Railway linking southwest China's Chongqing with Duisburg of Germany was opened.

As of the end of May, 10 China-Europe railway routes pass through Alataw, reaching 36 cities in 13 European countries, the office said.

It is estimated that transporting via the China-Europe railway costs one-fifth of the expense of air freight and takes one-third of the time of shipping.

Earlier statistics show that in the first four months of 2018, imports via the pass reached 6.29 million tonnes, up 10 percent year on year, while exports reached 947,000 tonnes, up 5.7 percent.