A gantry crane loads containers onto a freight train bound for Kazakhstan in Nanning international railway port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 12, 2021. Loaded with 49 containers of heavy machinery, the China-Europe freight train will arrive in Nur-Sultan in thirteen days after a 5,031-kilometer journey. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)

A new route of the China-Europe Freight Train service linking south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Kazakhstan opened on Saturday with a train departing from Guangxi.

The newly opened route of 5,031 km connects Guangxi's capital Nanning and Kazakhstan's Nursultan with a stop in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, according to the Nanning International Railway Port.

The train, loaded with 49 containers of heavy-duty machinery, is expected to run 13 days before reaching Nursultan.

Before the route started operation, it took around 45 days for machinery to arrive in Kazakhstan by road transportation, according to the Guangxi Construction Engineering Group Construction Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., manufacturer of the machinery.

The new route is of great significance to promote Nanning's role in the Belt and Road Initiative and drive the industrial development of surrounding areas, said Zhou Sitong, a manager with the China Railway Nanning Group Co., Ltd.