Cities building rail links to Europe
May 27, 2014 Category Logistics, Railway transport
As China builds a new Silk Road economic belt, more than a half-dozen cities are competing for goods and investment from multinationals to boost rail operations to Europe. With shorter transport times and lower freight costs, international rail lines linking western and central China to Europe have helped improve regional connectivity and trade. Since 2010, major Chinese cities, including Chengdu, Chongqing, Xian, Zhengzhou and Wuhan have all launched weekly or monthly modern block train services to different European destinations, as part of China’s efforts to turn its inland resource and labor-rich cities into international trade hubs. Chengdu expects a two-way express rail service with Lodz, Poland, to begin in the second half of 2014, Chen Zhongwei, Director of the Chengdu Logistics Office, said. The route opened in April 2013. Chinese cargos to Europe mostly consist of industrial yarn, automobile parts, new materials, IT goods, electronic and garment products, as well as daily necessities. Chinese trains usually return empty, driving up the costs. Transcontinental rail operators in Chongqing and Zhengzhou are also improving transport options to domestic and European clients – such as online booking, free short-term warehouse storage and services for loads measuring less than a container. Sales offices in Warsaw, the German city of Duisburg, Shanghai and Hangzhou are planned to attract manufacturers from different industries. A temperature-controlled freight cargo service on the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe route is planned to gain more market share in handling temperature-sensitive products such as Dutch dairy goods, German vaccines and chemical products. Coastal cities such as Guangzhou, Lianyungang and Suzhou also plan to fully open new rail routes to Europe, the China Daily reports.
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