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Belt and Road

Chinese freight train skirts Russia on new route into Europe

Japan-built Bosporus tunnel allows Beijing to diversify cargo transportation

A Chinese freight train travels through the Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosporus in Istanbul early Thursday. The journey was the first uninterrupted freight train journey from Turkey to Europe, transporting cargo from China while skirting Russia. (Anatolia News Agency)

ANKARA -- Guests from many countries packed onto a platform at the Turkish capital's historic rail station on Wednesday to welcome a freight train on its way from Xi'an in northwestern China into central Europe.

The train was welcomed by signs reading "One Belt, One Road," and "China-Turkey." Some 75 of the well-wishers were from China, outnumbering the contingents from several central Asian nations.

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