The Chongqing Coffee Exchange Center's total trade volume rocketed to 9.77 billion yuan ($1.52 billion) by the end of 2017, with a year-on-year increase of 137.8 percent, said a company official on Jan 15.

Owing to Chongqing's favorable location in the Belt and Road Initiative and position in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, the center is now home to a total of 336 coffee companies, 42 of which are foreign companies.

"Chongqing's ideal location is what has allowed its coffee industry to develop so rapidly," said Peng De, general manager of Chongqing Coffee Exchange Center.

Currently, coffee beans from Southeast Asia can be transported to Chongqing through the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity. After processing, they will be sold to the European market through the China-Europe railway and shipped to other China markets through the Yangtze River.

"The railway has changed the traditional method of transportation and made Chongqing a new trading hub for coffee," Said Peng De.

Peng added, "Compared with sea transport, the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe International Railway has a clear advantage in terms of both time and cost." The train starts from Chongqing and terminates at Duisburg, Germany, covering more than 11,000 kilometers. It takes just 13 days, 30 days shorter than sea transport and one fifth the cost of air transport.

The first-ever Liangjiang Coffee Festival is held in 2017. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

Statistics show that since the freight train went into operation in July, 2015, it has transported more than 400 containers of roasted coffee beans and instant coffee powders weighing more than 4,000 tons, with a total value of 350 million yuan ($54.43 million).

The coffee center has also cooperated with foreign institutions such as the Ethiopia National Commodity Exchange to promote the import of high-quality Ethiopian coffee. It is also a regional agent of the Korean coffee brand Ige Cafregional.

The Chongqing Coffee Exchange Center is the only coffee exchange platform in China with the function of financial settlement.