Red sea crisis highlights vital role of China-Europe rail freight

Reliable route

The importance of the China-Europe freight train service is gaining credence as a strategic alternative to facilitate the flow of goods between China and the continent.

Fu Cong, China's former ambassador to the European Union, called the freight service "a flagship project of China-EU Belt and Road cooperation that has stood out as a land-based alternative that provides rapid, stable, and reliable solutions to the massive flow of goods between both sides "amid "the complex and turbulent geopolitical situation, especially since the outbreak of the Red Sea crisis".

He made the remarks in March in a signed article published on Euractiv, a European news website focused on EU policy issues. "It is fair to say that the China-Europe Railway Express has become a lifeline for China-EU trade at this critical moment," he said.

The China-Europe freight train service began in 2011. As of February, it had operated more than 85,000 trips connecting 120 Chinese cities with 219 destinations in 25 European countries, according to China State Railway Group, the company that oversees the China-Europe freight train service.

Last year, about 17,000 China-Europe freight train services were operated, carrying 1.9 million containers.

In January and February, 2,928 freight trains operated between China and Europe, carrying 317,000 containers, a year-on-year increase of 9 and 10 percent, respectively, the latest data showed.

In addition to increased capacity, the quality of the service has been improved.

Kang, from China Railway International Multimodal Transportation, said the types of goods carried by the China-Europe freight train have expanded from 53 items when the service started to over 50,000 products today. "Many cities have launched tailored services, such as an entire train carrying ketchup, timber, tea, edible oil and new energy vehicles," he said.

To improve service quality, trains have been running to set schedules since October 2022, Kang said. Unlike regular cargo carriers, the trains adhere to a set schedule along the entire route, further reducing transport time and also allowing customers to calculate journey times between cities, thus improving service quality.

So far, five scheduled services have been operated, which have reduced 30 percent of travel time compared with regular China-Europe freight train services.

The scheduled services arrive at destinations on time. For example, the service from Xi'an, Shaanxi province, to Duisburg in Germany takes 300 hours and seven minutes.