A record 15,000 China-Europe freight train trips were made in 2021, up 22 percent from the previous year, according to China's railway operator.

The trains transported 1.46 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers last year, up 29 percent year-on-year, data from the China State Railway Group Co revealed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the operator has coordinated the opening of a new land-sea channel in the western region of China, transporting 570,000 TEU containers throughout the year, an increase of 57.5 percent on a yearly basis.

The operator took the initiative to strengthen communication and coordination with the railway departments of countries and regions along Belt and Road Initiative routes to ensure the smooth progress of port handover, train operations, information exchange, and unified pricing given the ongoing epidemic prevention and control measures, ensuring smooth and stable operation and a substantial increase in the number of lines opened for the China-Europe freight trains, said the China State Railway.

China-Europe freight trains have become a powerful "anchor of stability" in the global supply chain amid the disruptions caused by the pandemic, which is critical to the smooth operation of supply chains across Central Europe and Central Asia, as well as providing one more option for enterprises vulnerable to the soaring cost of international sea and air freight throughout 2021, experts said.