Thousands of years ago, specialties from the Sichuan region such as Shu brocade, lacquerware and tea were sold along the ancient Silk Road to Central Asia, Western Asia and Europe. Today, via the "modern Silk Road" — a transportation network that consists of international train services and cargo flights, high-tech products produced in Chengdu, such as laptop chips, iPads, smart projectors and motor vehicles are being exported in large quantities to destinations worldwide.

Despite the passage of time and changes across the world, Chengdu's open-mindedness and its pursuit of progress remain firmly in its DNA.

As a trading hub along the ancient Silk Road, Chengdu was considered to be on the "periphery" of international trade due to its inland location when the Age of Discovery began. However, with the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative and China's ongoing efforts to open up to the world, Chengdu has embraced this opportunity and worked diligently to enhance its channels and platforms for global communication and cooperation. As a result, Chengdu has rapidly emerged as a prominent inland hub for international exchanges and cooperation, while serving as a crucial gateway for China's collaboration with countries and regions to its west and south.

In 2022, Chengdu achieved a GDP of 2.08 trillion yuan ($288 billion). This milestone has placed Chengdu as the seventh city on the Chinese mainland to surpass the 2 trillion yuan threshold.

Located inland and far from coastlines and borders, Chengdu is situated 1,700 kilometers away from the nearest seaport. In April 2013, the first Chengdu-Europe railway express (later renamed as the "China-Europe freight train") departed from Chengdu. It traveled along a transnational rail route spanning 9,826 km, straight to the heartland of Europe in Lodz, Poland.

This railway link has put an end to the days when China's western regions had to rely solely on seaports for outbound trade.

The transit time of these trains has been reduced from the initial 22 days to as fast as 10 days, while the value and volume of goods transported have shown significant increases. Compared to sea and air transportation, the China-Europe freight trains offer a transportation cost that is one-fifth of air freight and a transit time that is one-fourth of sea freight.

These trains ship out "Made in China" and "Made in Sichuan" products such as electronics, automobiles and machinery to various countries, while bringing in German automobiles, French wines, Russian timber, Polish beef, Italian furniture and more. This has reshaped the foreign trade landscape of Chengdu and even western China.

The trains departing from Chengdu are not limited to China-Europe freight trains. In response to a growing demand for cross-border logistics and international transit between Sichuan and the Association of South-East Asian Nations, Chengdu has expedited the launch of southward international train services.

Chengdu's international train services cover 100 cities overseas and 30 cities domestically. They extend westbound to Europe, northbound to Mongolia and Russia, eastbound to Japan and South Korea, and southbound to ASEAN countries.