Chongqing announced the establishment of the Chongqing Coffee Exchange in June, hoping to become the world’s third-largest coffee futures market, after New York and London. Since last year, Yunnan-based coffee producer Hogood Coffee Co has used the 11,000-kilometer-long Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe International Railway for exporting coffee products. “It not only cuts costs, but also saves time,” said Xiong Xiangren, Founder of Hogood, which is China’s largest instant-coffee producer. Hogood accounts for about half of China’s coffee exports, and its clients include such major brands as Nescafe, Maxwell and Kraft. Chongqing, a megacity of 30 million people, is rapidly becoming a trading hub for goods bound for Europe. Statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China show that as of mid-June, 45% of goods transported by the Sino-Europe railway began their journey in Chongqing. In the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, the rail link and two large Yangtze River ports are connected by highways and railroads, creating a vast logistics network. The rapid growth of freight transport on the railway connecting Chongqing and Duisburg, Germany, pushes the inland municipality to the front of China’s Europe-bound international trade, the China Daily reports.