China-Europe railway trains are also a kind of dedicated line transportation. Currently, there are 11 international container trains from China to Europe, mainly exporting finished products, and exiting customs at Alashankou or Manzhouli. In the past five years, the annual container volume transported across the entire line has increased from 1,500 to 30,000 boxes. Compared with the annual shipping volume of China-Europe Shipping, which is 14 million boxes, the proportion is still small. The “Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe” and “Zhengzhou-Europe” trains have seen the greatest growth. Rapidly, with an annual volume of 150 classes.
The “Yuxinou” (Chongqing-Duisburg) was opened in 2011 and is the earliest international container train. The train starts from Chongqing and exits at Alashankou, passing through 5 countries. The average running time is 16 days, which is about 20 days shorter than the rail-sea combined transport. The freight is also twice as expensive. The source of goods is in western China and the south of the Yangtze River. Mainly, if the destination is Central Asia and Eastern Europe, the price/performance ratio will be higher.
50% of the “Made in Chongqing” IT products shipped out, the other 40% came from East China, South China and other regions. At the same time, complete vehicles, parts, chemical raw materials, food and other consumer goods were shipped back. In June 2015, Miya.com opened a warehouse in Chongqing, and some German imported goods were shipped to Chongqing via the Yuxinou line. This was the first time that domestic cross-border e-commerce companies used international railways to transport goods.
According to reports, it costs more than 2 yuan to transport a can of milk powder from Germany to Hangzhou “Rongxinou/Yixinou” by train, and more than 5 yuan for air transport. Although it is about 10 days slower, it is still compared to For sea transportation, the time is shortened by 20 days. E-commerce is price sensitive, so bonded stocking is still available. Whether it can become the norm, there is still potential to be tapped in terms of import and export. “Zhengxinou” (Zhengzhou-Hamburg) was opened in 2013, with a total journey of 15 days. Currently, the goods transported are mainly textile and clothing products. Other lines such as “Hefei Hamburg”, “Chengdu-Lodz”, “Suzhou-Warsaw”, “Wuhan-Poland” and “Yiwu-Madrid/London” are also in operation during this period.
Land and rail transportation is a safer transportation channel than sea transportation and can significantly shorten the distance and transportation time between China and Europe. As China’s coastal processing industry moves to the central and western regions, the importance of land transportation between China and Europe will become increasingly prominent. . However, at present, the transport capacity of the entire Eurasian “rail bridge” is low. The route infrastructure of the countries it passes through is weak, the station lines are tight, the transshipment capacity is insufficient, the international intermodal transport mechanism is imperfect, and settlement charges increase costs for shippers.
Customs clearance methods along the way are not perfect, otherwise the transportation efficiency can be further improved. Compared with ocean shipping, due to fewer channels, strong operating monopoly, low degree of marketization, and complicated shipping and transshipment procedures, the tracking and inquiry concerns of cargo owners have not yet been completely resolved. According to the National Development and Reform Commission’s “China-Europe Railway Express Construction and Development Plan (2016-2020)”, transportation capacity will increase from the current 2,000 trains to 5,000 trains in 2020.