Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, began running freight trains to Belarus on March 1, bringing auto parts ordered by Chinese carmaker Geely for its joint venture in Minsk, capital of Belarus.

The train, running on the northern route of the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail service, is carrying 41 containers of auto parts, and will travel more than 8,800 kilometers over the course of 12 days to reach the Belarusian capital.

Feng Xuhong, vice-president of Chengdu Geely, said the auto parts and accessories, worth nearly $600,000, were made at the company's plants in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, and Chengdu. They will be used to assemble the Geely GC9 luxury sedan in Minsk. Once completed, the vehicles will be mainly sold in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

"The greatest advantages of using the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail service are that it guarantees delivery efficiency and lower transportation costs," Feng said.

Before the express rail service, Geely used to send car parts to Minsk through combined sea and road transportation routes. "The rail route is much faster, reducing the time from 40 to 12 days," he said.

The Chengdu-Europe Express Rail service, which became operational in April 2013, is the fastest and most frequently used cargo railway route that links the city to European countries, in line with China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Stretching over 9,800 km, the service originally ran a weekly freight train from Chengdu to Lodz, an emerging European logistics hub in Poland.

It was then expanded to other cities such as Kutno in Poland, Nuremberg in Germany and Tilburg in the Netherlands, and finished trial runs to Istanbul in Turkey last year.

One of the most important reasons to build a free trade zone is to promote and facilitate easier trade links and processes. In this regard, the express rail service, which serves as an international logistics corridor linking China and Europe, will play a crucial role in the future development of Sichuan Free Trade Zone, according to the provincial government.

In August, Sichuan was approved by the central government to join China's third batch of an eventual seven pilot free trade zones. Preparation is now moving into the final stages, and it is expected that the launch date will be announced within weeks.

Dai Bin, head of a research center for regional economy and urban management at Chengdu-based Southwest Jiaotong University, said free trade zones must have the foundation to develop large transportation networks, because they, as platforms that integrate into global economic activities, need to maintain close economic ties with countries around the world.