JINAN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- A freight train loaded with materials and parts for railway construction left Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province for Serbia Tuesday morning, opening a new freight train route linking China and the European country.

The parts and equipment will support the construction of the Hungary-Serbia railway, a 350 km-long electrified mixed passenger-freight railway with a designed maximum speed of 200 km per hour.

Compared with logistics by air or by sea, China-Europe freight train offered a cost-efficient transportation alternative, according to Wang Wei, chairman of the logistics arm under the China Railway Materials Group.

It will take around 25 days for the cargo train to reach the construction site in Belgrade.

Since the debut of the China-Europe freight rail service in 2011, the number of trips made between the two regions skyrocketed from 17 to 6,300 in 2018. The China-Europe rail service is considered a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative and is expected to boost trade between China and Europe.