Ever since Beijing envisioned its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to make foreign markets more accessible to China and vice versa, it has been expanding its networks far west, including the European mainland. The Chinese juggernaut marches on, investing heavily in ports encircling the continent, partnering with East European countries to develop high-speed rail networks, and taking controlling positions in airports across the heart of Western Europe.Probably related:
The BRI can be viewed as a long-cherished Chinese dream of reviving the legendary Silk Road that connected China to the Eurasian empires 2,000 years ago, by creating logistics arteries connecting China to the entirety of the world.
Today, the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu announced a new freight train route to Belgium’s Liege, dispatching a train loaded with 82 standard containers of commodities that is expected to reach Liege roughly 20 days from now. Yiwu, which is one of the world’s largest small commodities markets, plans to operate this service twice a week.
However, this is not the first freight train connection from Yiwu to Europe. Yiwu is already connected to London by rail – a freight train service that has run successfully between the two cities for over two years, carrying commodities like clothes, electronics and a variety of household items. Yiwu is also connected to Madrid via rail, which incidentally is the longest railway route in the world, moving through eight countries and nearly 13,000 kilometers (~8,100 miles).
Though there have been several reports that point to underwhelming volumes being transported by rail between China and Europe, opening up new lines is expected to attract new businesses to take up rail freight as an alternative to maritime shipping. The direct train route to Liege will decrease delivery times by at least a day or two, while cutting travel times by nearly half of what it would have been if hauled by a maritime vessel....MORE
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