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Connectivity is regarded as key to reshaping the world's economic geography and achieving development. Direct cargo trains between China and Europe are an example of that and in China's export powerhouse Yiwu, a new train route has opened yet another path for transporting goods.

Hustle and bustle, This is the world's largest commodity wholesale market.

One of the businessmen here is Jin Haijun, who sells imported products from Spain.

As he's done import and export business for many years in Yiwu, Jin also witnessed the change in transporting goods -- this train route, for example.

"Before November 2014, businessmen here could only get products across Eurasia by sea or by air. We used to choose transport by sea. It now saves one third of the time. We also enjoy preferential policies of passing the customs," said Jin Haijun, General Manager, Smundiver Import & Export.

He uses that saved time to import more food products and other daily necessities apart from wine.

This is the railway's logistics center. Workers are handling containers filled with products made in China. These containers will be put on a train that connects China and Europe. After a journey of 21 days, these products will arrive in the Spanish capital Madrid for distribution across Europe.

The train on the Yiwu-Madrid railway travels once every week. The route has a distance of roughly 10,000 kilometers, passing through seven countries. That makes it one of the longest international cargo routes in the world.
 
Feng Xubin is part of the team who has made the route possible. He worked five years for the route.

"Before the route was opened, those small and medium-sized businesses in Yiwu had to rely on trucks to transport their goods to the land port in Xinjiang," he said.

"We saw the demand and decided to work on this route. We hope to set up an integrated system of supply chain along the route to reach the goal of the Belt and Road Initiative China has proposed. From our side, we want trade and people-to people connection be real."

The freight service takes a third of time less than by sea, costs a fifth of the price less than by air, and transports more than 4,300 containers. At the beginning of this year, the service added one stop at Iran's capital, Tehran.

A thousand years ago, camels were the main transport mode on the old path of the Silk Road. But now, we can leave those camels behind and use this cargo train instead on our journey to the new Silk Road.