Without the magnificence of Beijing and Shanghai, devoid of the sceneries of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and much smaller in size, Yiwu city is nonetheless garnering no less global attention. Statistics show that of Yiwu’s population only 800,000 are native, while 1.437 million are from outside of Yiwu, including more than 13,000 foreign businesspeople permanently settling in the city.

In the Qin dynasty, a county named “Wushang” was already set up in this area. While “Wushang” had been little known over the past 2,000 years, in the past three decades, “Yiwu” has become the biggest small commodity center in the world.

One contributor that helps Yiwu closely connected with the other parts of the world is the China-Europe freight trains, which run through the Silk Road Economic Belt, bringing tens of thousands of Chinese products all the way to Madrid. In the process, trade has been further promoted, the infrastructure of developing countries along the Road has been improved, and “common prosperity” is being achieved.

“The China-Europe freight trains are more and more influential along the Belt and Road,” said Feng Xubin, who is at the helm of Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment, a private company and the operator of the China-Europe freight trains. “The loss incurred at the initial stage was quite heavy, which had to be made up for by the other businesses of the company, but the costs were reduced considerably with more customers, stable supplies of goods and regular operation of the trains.”

A Yiwu native, Feng has been doing business for many years. “I have many long-term clients,” Feng beamed. “Honestly, I can now make money without having to do anything.” But resting on past achievements is never in the blood of Yiwu people. Before the China-Europe freight trains started operation, many goods exported to Central Asia and Russia had to go through Ningbo to clear customs.

“I was thinking at the time why couldn’t Yiwu just open an international rail line directly?” recalled Feng. With this question in mind, Feng began applying for such a route in 2010, which was officially approved in September 2012. And in April 2013, the first direct train from Yiwu to Central Asia was up and running.

An even more exciting piece of news for Feng Xubin was the official proposal from China in September 2013, to launch the Belt and Road Initiative. Soon afterwards, the Yiwu to Central Asian trains were incorporated and became the now commonly known China-Europe freight trains. On November 18, 2014, the first train carrying 82 containers of goods departed from Yiwu, travelling across Europe and arrived at Madrid.

“Yiwu has the world’s largest small commodity market, and Madrid has Europe’s largest,” said Lin Huihuan, general manager of Yiwu C.F International Logistics Co. Ltd. “The trains are truly connecting China, Asia and European continent.”

What started out as an attempt to open a new westward channel for Yiwu’s products is gradually developing into a China-Europe trade platform for the Belt and Road Initiative.