China Railway Express (Tilburg-Nanjing) is the first return train.Photo courtesy of the interviewed unit
On July 4, a long whistle sounded, and a China-Europe freight train loaded with 100 standard containers slowly departed from Yaohuamen Station. The train “laden” with machinery and equipment and textile supplies worth 3.9728 million US dollars will leave the country through the Manzhouli port and is expected to arrive in Moscow before the end of the month.
The train galloped fast, reluctant to give up day and night. The “steel camel caravan” loaded with goods set off from Nanjing and traveled all over the Eurasian continent, effectively ensuring the stability and smoothness of the international industrial chain and supply chain, and running a new channel for serving the “Belt and Road” and smooth trade exchanges.
The reporter learned from the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce and Nanjing International Freight Train Co., Ltd. that in the first half of this year, in the face of international tensions, repeated COVID-19 epidemics and other adverse effects, the China-Europe (Asia) train “Jiangsu” Nanjing train galloped against the wind. , a total of 186 trains of 7651 vehicles were opened, completing 71.5% of the annual operation task, a year-on-year increase of 137.68%.
Speeding against the wind to increase capacity, “Steel Camel Team” opened 7651 vehicles in half a year
The Far-Europe line runs from Nanjing to Tilburg, the Netherlands, via Alashankou to Tilburg and surrounding areas, with 1-2 shifts per month, with an average time limit of 20 days;
The old-fashioned Sino-Russian line leaves the country through Manzhouli and Erenhot ports to Moscow and other cities, 2 classes a week, with an average time limit of 20-25 days;
The Central Asian route leaves the country through Horgos and Alashankou ports, and can reach Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, once a week, with an average time limit of 18-25 days…
Nanjing is located at the intersection of the “Belt and Road”, as well as the intersection of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway and the deep-water channel of the Yangtze River. It has a dense and vertical expressway network and is a “water, land and air” transportation hub connecting the four seas. Since the beginning of this year, affected by the situation in Russia and Ukraine, the new crown epidemic, etc., it is difficult to find a single container of shipping, and the freight is running at a high level. With its unique advantages such as high efficiency, wide routes, and all-weather, China-Europe (Asia) trains have become an important link between Asia and Europe. trade channel.
In recent years, the city has successively opened a number of international train lines in Central Asia, Russia, Far Europe, Laos and so on. In the “headwind situation” of insufficient global transportation capacity and poor logistics, the Nanjing train ensures the stability and smoothness of the international industrial chain supply chain with stable, reliable and cost-effective transportation services, and integrates machinery and equipment produced in Nanjing and the surrounding areas of the Yangtze River Delta. Electronic products, clothing, daily necessities, auto parts and other goods are efficiently shipped to all parts of Europe and Asia.
At the Yaohuamen railway freight yard, the starting point of the China-Europe freight train in Nanjing, materials from key enterprises such as LG and SUMEC are loaded and set off from here every month, and they can reach the Asian and European markets in the fastest ten days. As a logistics hub, export goods from the surrounding areas also gather in Nanjing from all directions, and take the train to the Eurasian continent.
“We cooperated with the Commerce Bureau, Customs, National Railway and other departments to link the market, actively overcome the superimposed impact of the situation in Russia and Ukraine and the new crown epidemic, and promoted the quality and quantity of Nanjing international trains.” Manager Wang Jianjun introduced that in the first half of the year, Nanjing China-Europe (Asia) trains operated a total of 186 trains with 7,651 trains, and completed more than 70% of the annual operating tasks, with a year-on-year increase of 137.68%.
Cost reduction in logistics and transportation, smooth land trade “aorta”
On June 22, local time, the country’s first two-way trade promotion project based on the China-Europe freight train platform, the Jiangsu-North Brabant “front exhibition and rear warehouse” project was officially launched in Tilburg, the Netherlands, attracting SUMEC Group, overseas enterprises More than 90 companies from Jiangsu and the Yangtze River Delta, including the Group and Guoxin Sainty, participated in the exhibition.
As part of the China-Europe freight train’s public overseas warehouse in the Netherlands, the project will rely on the Nanjing-Tilburg freight train newly opened last year to create a comprehensive service platform integrating exhibition, e-commerce, warehousing, logistics, distribution and other functions. The production and operation needs of export-oriented enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region further promote the integrated development of China-Europe freight train transportation and trade.
Affected by the international situation and the epidemic, the international freight prices continued to run at a high level, and the logistics and transportation were hindered, which brought a great impact on the import and export business of enterprises in our city. Aiming at the blockages and pain points in the international freight process, trains run across the Eurasian continent, which not only fills the supply and demand gap in international logistics and transportation, but also provides strong support for stabilizing the supply chain of the industrial chain and promoting trade interoperability.
From January to May this year, the total import and export volume of our city’s foreign trade decreased by 1.2% year-on-year, but the trade with the EU and ASEAN remained stable, and the import and export volume increased by 0.1% and 3.2% respectively.
Wang Jianjun introduced that in order to ensure the stability and smoothness of the foreign trade industry chain and supply chain, the Nanjing Railway Company has been conscientiously doing a good job in the transportation of import and export trade goods, striving to reduce the cost of comprehensive logistics, carefully designing logistics solutions for local enterprises, and helping enterprises with practical actions. Ensure the smooth flow of logistics channels and help enterprises “go global”.
At present, the problem of sluggish air cargo still exists, and the price of sea freight is also running at a high level. The land-based China-Europe freight train has the advantages of high efficiency, stability, all-weather, etc., and has become a “golden channel” for import and export trade. Wang Jianjun told reporters: “In general, the price of Nanjing China-Europe freight train is lower than that of sea freight, and the time is less than half of that of sea freight; compared with air freight, the current price of China-Europe freight train is about one-third or even lower than that of air freight. , and can carry more and larger goods at one time, and the comprehensive logistics cost is lower.”
The China-Laos Railway is a landmark project of high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”. Seizing the opportunity of the official entry into force of the RCEP agreement, our city has overcome many difficulties and stably opened international freight trains in the direction of China and Laos, and actively served COFCO, SUMEC, Sainty, and Cathay Pacific. Many other enterprises have opened up door-to-door multimodal logistics channels covering Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia. Up to now, the city has opened a total of 17 middle-aged and old trains, ranking first in the eastern region. The scale and market impact of the operation is second only to Yunnan, which has opened up a new channel for the incremental expansion of foreign trade.
The return journey of Yuan Europe will be divided into weekly classes, and the return journey will not be empty.
On January 24, the 75008 train returning from Tilburg, the Netherlands, carrying imported cabinets, cables, chemical foils and other high value-added goods with a total value of more than 20.5 million yuan, successfully arrived at the Nanjing Longtan Railway Station, realizing the Nanjing- The two-way folio of the Tilburg train.
“Except for some parts with small quality and volume, which are transported by air, all other large parts are transported by international trains.” Nanjing Punch Automatic Transmission Co., Ltd., located in Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, imports and produces parts from Europe every year. This year The company has changed the previous sea transportation and switched to the China-Europe freight train as the main channel for import transportation. The relevant person in charge of the company introduced that due to the impact of the epidemic, air freight prices are high, and shipping is congested and it is difficult to find a single container, which cannot arrive in 50 to 60 days.
In order to promote closer trade cooperation along the “Belt and Road” and reduce the cost of comprehensive logistics and transportation, the city has continuously optimized the structure of the trains to and from the trains, and increased the organization of the trains for the return journey. At present, it has tended to be balanced. Today, our city has opened the far-European return line and the Russian return line from Tilburg in the Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany, Neuss in Germany and Malaszewicz in Poland to Nanjing.
“Nanjing is the only city in the Yangtze River Delta that realizes the weekly operation of the Far-Europe return train. The Far-Europe return train runs about 4 trains per month on a regular basis, opening up the ‘big artery’ for foreign trade enterprises to import by land.” Wang Jianjun introduced, The return train has a relatively fixed schedule, so companies can know when they can “stock”, and the experience is better. More and more customers choose to use the China-Europe train as the transportation channel for imported goods.
The relevant person in charge of the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce introduced that the city will continue to expand the China-Europe freight train channel, optimize the route layout and supply structure, stabilize the operation line, ensure that the total number of trains will reach 260 in 2022, and explore the pilot China-Europe freight train ” This year, we will continue to promote the weekly operation of the Far-Europe return train, and strive for the opening of special trains such as free trade zone special trains, cross-border e-commerce special trains, and postal trains.
□Nanjing Daily/Purple Mountain News reporter
Zhu Kai Huang Linyan