European overland trade with China continues despite geopolitical issues elsewhere around the globe. This week, Belgian-headquartered logistics group Ziegler announced a new rail connection between the German river port of Duisburg and the Chinese northwestern hub of Xi’an.
The latest “New Silk Road” connection between Europe and China will see containerised goods dispatched from Xi’an to Duisburg by train. Ziegler then covers the last leg by road to Welkenraedt, Belgium. The company calls it “the fastest rail connection between China and Europe”.
Connections with industrial centres
Duisburg lies on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers, and receives sea-going shipping. However, this new rail connection with China will deliver consignments to the North Rhine-Westphalia region in 16 days. Ziegler then intends to “last mile” by road and guarantees a maximum transit time of 18 days between Xi’an and their own hub at Welkenraedt in Belgium.
“We take care of all administrative and customs aspects and can collect goods anywhere in China”, a Ziegler spokesperson explained. The logistics company has connections with important industrial centres in China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. They say it collects freight from those places and then puts it on a train in Xi’an. “In addition, our tracking system ensures full transparency regarding the estimated time of arrival.”
Part of the Belt and Road initiative
Xi’an, the first capital of the “Three Kingdoms” (modern China), is also the provincial capital of Shaanxi. The city is a designated logistics hub, specifically for Eurasian trade. Under government directives, its manufacturing base grew rapidly in the first two decades of the century, as part of the Chinese government’s “Belt and Road initiative, which also established a network of overland routes between China and neighbouring Asian and European countries.
Ziegler Group is eager to see their new initiative be successful. “Our rail freight services are faster and more secure than road freight,” said their spokesperson. “We provide delivery to the pickup railway station in China and pick-up services from the factory in China, emitting fewer emissions per ton of freight moved than air or marine freight.”
Faster trains have been scheduled in the past. In 2022, at the Silk Road Summit, organised by WorldCargo News publishers ProMedia Group, the port of Duisburg announced its own Silk Road rail service, scheduled to complete the 9,908-kilometre journey in exactly 235 hours and 26 minutes, or just under ten days.
Additional reporting from a story by Dennis van der Laan at RailFreight.com.