On The Fast Track, Trains Linking China To Europe
Caravans of camels carrying silk, jewels and spices along the Silk Road are in the distant past, but cargo trains linking Chinese cities with Europe are taking the ancient road into the future.
A direct freight train linking Wuhan in central China and Lyons in France began running last week.
China now has 3 rail lines to Europe:
- A western route through the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang to Kazakhstan
- A middle path via Erenhot to Mongolia
- Manzhouli in the northeast to Russia.
Note: Many Chinese cities now have freight trains to European cities including Hamburg, Lyons and Madrid.
Such train networks have flourished since the launching of the Silk Road Economic Belt was proposed in 2013 to improve cooperation between countries along the ancient Silk Road.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, trade between China and “Belt and Road” countries totaled US$995-B in Y 2015, about 25% of the national trade volume.
“In the past, it was basically Chinese companies shipping their products to Europe by train, but now European companies are exporting products such as automobile parts to China,” said Dong Wanxu, General Manager of Eurasia International Logistics Ltd.
Goods produced in Wuhan can reach over 20 countries along the line. In Q-1 of this year, 39 trains carrying 3,512 standard containers of goods have departed Wuhan for Europe, already more than the total for Y 2014, according to Yu Shiping, director of Wuhan’s transport commission. Over 300 trains are expected to set out this year, compared with 164 last year.
The western municipality of Chongqing sent 490 trains to Europe in 2015; Zhengzhou more than 300, representing over US$1.4-B of goods.
Exports are just 50% the story.
In northeast China, where a freight train began running to Europe last year, Russian imports are big.
The Changchun-Manzhouli-Europe line has transported cargo worth more than Eur 35-M since August, and in return the trains have brought novel, cheap goods like vodka, tiramisu and wild Siberian honey.
In a Russian store in Changchun a bottle of vodka costs only RMB 45 (US$6.9), while fresh tiramisu costs only RMB 30. Some items like flour are even cheaper than their Chinese counterparts.
“China has a trade surplus with many countries, but the China-Europe trains can help foreign countries exploit the Chinese market,” said Lan Jianping, head of the Zhejiang Industry and Economy Research Institute.
“The China Europe freight channels will definitely play a part in reviving the ancient Silk Road,” he said.
Stay tuned…
Paul Ebeling
HeffX-LTN
The post On The Fast Track, Trains Linking China To Europe appeared first on Live Trading News.