China-Europe Block Train

China Railway Express (abbreviated as CR express) is organized by China Railway Corporation. The railway international intermodal transport train is an important carrier for deepening the economic and trade cooperation between my country and the countries along the route and an important starting point for promoting the construction of the "Belt and Road".

 

On March 19, 2011, the "Yuxinou" container freight train from Chongqing, China to Duisburg, Germany was launched, marking the official opening of a new rail freight mode between China and Europe: "China-Europe Freight Train". Up to now，China-Europe Freight Trains have been in operation for more than 10 years，The scale of departures has grown rapidly, and the coverage of transportation has continued to expand.Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi 'an, Zheng 'zhou, Urumqi five central and western gathering centers have been formed.

 

China-Europe Freight Trains have opened in 76 cities in 29 provinces in China -- in 25 countries in 217 cities in Europe, 73 routes are in operation, and more than 80 container return points. The operation of freight trains has changed from “point-to-point” to “hub to hub”which has formed a relatively stable operation pattern.

 

▼ With the increasing scale and coverage of the operation, China-Europe freight trains are gradually divided into two types combined with the characteristics of local economy:

1）The route emphasizes the special status of locally produced goods in the shipment

2）The line attaches great importance to the development of transportation hub and other geographical advantages, and gathers goods from other regions for unified transportation.

▼ In 10 years of operation, the operation mode of China-europe freight trains has gradually become clear.

Through central trains in domestic cargo shipped abroad, for example, the process is: domestic freight client with domestic carriage of goods by rail transport agent to sign the agreement, the domestic railway the shipper again and overseas railway transportation, the carrier to sign the agreement, by respectively responsible for the actual movement of domestic and overseas business, and ultimately to deliver the goods to the receiving party overseas.

▼ After 10 years of exploration, CR express provides four types of freight trains to the freight market, namely mainly serving:

1. "Customized Train" of large export enterprises
2. "Public Trains" of Regular operation
3. "Distribution Trains" with goods arriving and leaving
4. LCL business for small and micro enterprises

▼ China-europe freight trains have formed a basic pattern characterized by "three major channels, four ports, five directions and six routes" :

——The "three major channels" refer to the western (southern line), the middle (middle line) and eastern (northern line) of china-Europe freight trains departing through Xinjiang, and the middle (middle line) and eastern (northern line) of China-Europe freight trains departing through Inner Mongolia.

——The "four ports" Alashan , Manzhouli, Erlianhot and Khorgos are the main ports of entry and exit for freight trains.

——The "five Directions" are the main destinations of China-Europe express, including the European Union, Russia, and parts of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

——The"Six major lines" refers to the lines developed in Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Xi 'an, Suzhou and other places with outstanding performance in terms of scale, supply organization and operation stability.

The China-Europe container freight direct train saves more time than the traditional sea transportation (only half of the time of sea transportation), and saves more freight than the air transportation (only one sixth of the freight of air transportation). The transformation of this potential advantage into a realistic policy depends on the shaping of the overall environment and the efforts of relevant subjects.

After the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward, China-Europe freight trains have been gradually incorporated into the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The different progress made by China and countries along the Belt and Road in policy communication, unimpeded trade and infrastructure connectivity can provide different degrees of support for the China-Europe Railway express. On the other hand, the development of china-Europe freight trains is itself an important outcome of the Belt and Road Initiative. The consultations, new technologies and standards adopted and agreements reached between China and countries along the Belt and Road on promoting trade facilitation and building a sound business environment have had a positive impact on expanding the supply of goods, facilitating transit and increasing the speed of freight trains between China and Europe.