China's National Railways Handled 2.35 Billion Tons of Freight in Jan-July

China's national railway network transported 2.35 billion metric tons of cargo in the first seven months of the year, a 0.7 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to China State Railway Group. Daily freight car loadings averaged 187,000 cars, up 2.1 percent year-on-year. Transport of key energy supplies and industrial goods remained steady, with power coal shipments securing summer energy needs and cross-border freight trains to Europe and Central Asia recording double-digit expansion.

Railway freight volume is a foundational barometer of China's industrial activity and domestic trade velocity. While headline tonnage growth was modest at 0.7 percent, high growth in specialized segments—such as textiles, chemical products, and combined rail-road transport—indicates shifting supply chain dynamics, deeper multimodal integration, and persistent demand for cross-border overland freight routes.

China's national railway system transported 2.35 billion metric tons of freight during the first seven months of the year, representing a 0.7 percent increase year-on-year, according to data from state operator China State Railway Group reported by People's Daily. Average daily loadings reached 187,000 railcars between January and July, an increase of 2.1 percent compared to the same period in the prior year. Energy security remained a top operational priority during the peak summer power season. The railway network delivered 1.216 billion tons of coal over the seven-month span, which included 813 million tons of thermal coal for electricity generation. State railway officials noted that coal stockpiles at power plants directly connected to the national rail grid stayed at elevated levels throughout the high-demand summer period. Beyond bulk energy shipments, higher-value industrial and agricultural cargo posted notable growth. Grain transport volume rose 7.4 percent year-on-year, while chemical shipments grew 5.4 percent. Textile freight demonstrated the sharpest acceleration, surging 21.4 percent compared to the prior-year period. Multimodal logistics infrastructure also expanded significantly. The railway network operated 165 integrated rail-water 'single-bill' service products during the period, handling 71,600 standard container bookings and helping drive a 9.2 percent year-on-year increase in containerized rail-water freight. Meanwhile, rail-road intermodal freight reached 294 million tons, up 80.9 percent year-on-year. To improve network connectivity between core industrial clusters, rail operators deployed scheduled express cargo trains linking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The operator also signed 1,523 comprehensive logistics contracts, representing 1.236 billion tons in contracted volume. Cross-border overland routes maintained steady operational growth. A total of 21,570 freight train trips operated across China-Europe and China-Central Asia corridors from January to July, up 10.3 percent year-on-year. Within this network, China-Europe freight train services expanded 17.6 percent to 12,988 trips, while services connecting China with Central Asian destinations rose 0.7 percent to 8,582 trips.