JINAN, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- A new freight train linking east China's Shandong Province with Milan, Italy, started service Friday, making it the newest China-Europe freight train route.

A 41-container train carrying clothing, electronic products, and machinery departed from Yanzhou North railway station in Jining, on Friday morning. The train will run every Friday.

The 10,900-km journey, which makes a stop in Chengdu for customs clearance, will take 18 days, said Zhang Benhong, deputy head of the railway station.

Direct freight train service will be launched between Shandong and Europe on Aug. 31. Trains departing from Yanzhou North railway station will ship goods to cities including Warsaw, Poland and Hamburg and Duisburg, Germany via Russia and Belarus.

As of end of June, China-Europe freight trains have made over 9,000 trips since the service began in 2011, delivering 800,000 20-foot equivalent units of goods. The trains are currently operated between 48 Chinese cities and 42 cities in 14 European countries.