CHANGSHA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Loaded with skid-steer loaders, laptops, LED panels, green tea and other local specialties, a freight train left Zhuzhou in central China's Hunan Province for Belarus Thursday, starting a new route of the China-Europe express freight transport train service.

The train with 42 containers is expected to arrive in Minsk, capital of Belarus, 13 days later.

It is expected that 35 trains will be operated on the new service route by the end of the year, and new direct trains to Moscow, Tilburg in the Netherlands and Budapest will be put into operation as the transport demand grows.

Initiated in March 2011, the China-Europe express freight train service has seen steady expansion during the past few years. A total of 48 Chinese cities have launched 65 freight train routes, reaching 14 countries and more than 40 cities in Europe in 2018.