China-Europe Express: A "Happy Train" that Benefits People along the "Belt and Road"

China-Europe Express: a "Happy Train" that Benefits people along the Route

——Hebei actively integrates into the highlight story of jointly building the "Belt and Road" (3)

On September 9, the first China-Europe express cross-border e-commerce special train between Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, carrying e-commerce goods worth nearly US$3 million worth of household goods, pet supplies, auto parts and other e-commerce goods, departed from Shijiazhuang International Dry Port and headed for Malaszewicz, Poland's largest railway transshipment port.

Meanwhile, Angelica Gresszko, the owner of a large Polish wholesale company, is busy preparing to receive goods. They just purchased a batch of bicycles from Hebei Leyou Bicycle Co., Ltd., and this batch of bicycles took this China-Europe train.

"Before the shipment, we advertised this batch of goods, and many dealers have already placed orders and are waiting for the goods to arrive and then pick up the goods." Angelica Gresshok said that the quality of bicycles in China is very good, the price is not high, ordinary consumers can afford to buy, improving the quality of life of the Polish people.

The China-Europe express train, loaded with building materials, clothing, auto parts and other industrial products, continues to sail from Hebei to Eurasia and is becoming a "happy train" that benefits the people of all countries along the "Belt and Road".

The China-Europe express train refers to the container international railway intermodal train that runs according to fixed trains, routes and other conditions, and travels between China and Europe and countries along the "Belt and Road". In March 2011, the first China-Europe express train was sent from Chongqing to Duisburg, Germany; in June 2016, China Railway officially launched the unified brand logo of China-Europe express trains; in the past 10 years, the number of China-Europe trains has increased steadily.

From scratch to the sharp rise in quantity, Wang Qingchen, manager of the Shijiazhuang sales department of China Railway Container Beijing Branch, witnessed the rapid development of China-Europe express trains in Hebei.

"In recent years, Hebei's clothing, ceramics, auto parts, baby carriages and other products have been exported to countries along the 'Belt and Road', in order to open a convenient channel for Hebei enterprises and countries along the 'Belt and Road', on July 8, 2016, the State Railway Group opened a China-Europe train to Uzbekistan in xingtai inland port, which is also the first China-Europe train in Hebei." Wang Qingchen said that in 2018, the State Railway Group opened the "Shijiazhuang-Moscow" China-Europe express train in Shijiazhuang International Dry Port, and subsequently, the number of China-Europe trains continued to rise, with 13 trains in 2019 and 105 trains in 2020. As of September 17 this year, 125 China-Europe express trains have been operated.

Behind the popularity of the China-Europe express train is the strong demand.

Shijiazhuang Wangzhao Garment Co., Ltd., located in Yuanshi County, is a foreign trade enterprise that mainly exports outdoor sports clothing, and its products are welcomed by the markets of Poland, Hungary and other European countries. Before the opening of the China-Europe express train, the company's goods were mainly exported by sea, 35 to 40 days to reach the exporting country, if the goods are late, only air freight can be selected.

Zhao Yanping, the company's general manager, said that if a piece of clothing is shipped by sea, the freight cost may be 5 yuan, but by air, the transportation cost can reach 30 to 40 yuan. The seasonality of clothing is strong, the time limit of transportation is strict, and the time-sensitive transportation of China-Europe express trains is timely and inexpensive, which reduces their costs and brings benefits to foreign consumers.

Today, Shijiazhuang Wangzhao Garment Co., Ltd. exports one-third of its garments to Europe through China-Europe express trains, and this proportion is still rising. Zhao Yanping said that with the help of The China-Europe Express, the company is delivering more products to countries along the "Belt and Road", so that high-quality and inexpensive Hebei clothing can benefit more people along the route.

"In the past two years, more and more Hebei enterprises have taken goods through the China-Europe express train transportation channel." Wang Xichun, marketing director of Hebei Huanhai Logistics Co., Ltd., said that especially due to the impact of the epidemic, in the case of a difficult warehouse for shipping, some enterprises that originally took the sea have also begun to take the China-Europe express train. He believes that during the epidemic period, china-Europe express trains have built a new all-weather, large-volume, green and low-carbon transportation channel for foreign trade enterprises.

This new transportation channel not only transports Hebei manufacturing to countries along the "Belt and Road", but also strengthens the cultural exchanges between Hebei and the people along the "Belt and Road".

"In recent years, bicycles produced by Hebei Leyou Bicycle Co., Ltd. have been particularly popular in countries along the 'Belt and Road'." Wang Jing, general manager of the company, said that in the past, consumers in these countries were very fond of bicycle brands in the United States and Japan, and as Chinese bicycles entered these countries, the local people found that Chinese bicycles were not worse than bicycles in the United States and Japan in terms of quality, but the price was relatively low, and they soon liked Chinese bicycles. Now their company exports more than 80,000 bicycles to Poland alone every year, and the number of bicycles exported to countries along the "Belt and Road" this year has increased by 30% compared with the same period last year.

In order to produce bicycles that are popular with local consumers, Wang Jing has to go to export countries every year to investigate the market and adjust and innovate products according to the living habits and consumption preferences of foreign consumers. Different from domestic people riding bicycles, foreign consumers are accustomed to using a front brake, and the back brake is on the chain, which is an inverted brake, and they adjust the product according to foreign riding habits.

In the past two years, due to the epidemic, Wang Jing's field research abroad has been cancelled, but the company's communication with foreign countries has not stopped, and foreign wholesalers regularly feedback the sales of products in the local area. Some time ago, they designed the color of "Chinese red" to the bicycle, foreign wholesalers feedback that this bicycle sold particularly well, suggesting that they design more Chinese elements into the bicycle, which made Wang Jing very proud: "Next, we hope to take the China-Europe train, sell more Chinese bicycles abroad, so that more people along the 'Belt and Road' can understand Chinese culture." ”

"As the main artery of the 'Belt and Road', the China-Europe express train has provoked the girder of land transportation and played a very important role in strengthening economic and cultural exchanges between countries along the 'Belt and Road'." Wang Qingchen said that at present, a total of 6 lines have been opened in Hebei China-Europe Express, and more than 10 countries in Asia and Europe can be reached along the route. Among them, three outbound lines to Moscow, Russia, Sbornaya and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, have achieved normal operation.

Wang Qingchen introduced that in addition to The "going out" of Hebei's products, Russian food, Central Asian non-ferrous metals, etc., are also directly transported to Hebei through the China-Europe train, entering the supermarket counters and enterprise production workshops in Hebei. In the future, the China-Europe express train will continue to operate at a high level, and they will continue to open up new businesses, add new lines, improve service quality, and enhance Hebei's ties with countries along the "Belt and Road". (Hebei Daily reporter Fang Suju correspondent Xin Shizhong Zhang Haoliang)