"South Korea**" recently said that the Houthi blockade of the Red Sea shipping route caused a global logistics crisis, resulting in a 250% increase in shipping freight from South Korea to the European Union in 4 months, and China has a transportation channel such as the China-Europe train, and the competitiveness of South Korean companies' exports may decline. South Korea's worries have made the outside world see that when the Red Sea crisis continues to ferment and global logistics and the first chain are impacted, the advantages of China-Europe freight trains are highlighted.
The Red Sea is one of the important shipping routes to the Suez Canal, and is a must-pass for some of the most important shipping routes to Western Europe and the United States. According to relevant research, each year, about 15% of the world's offshore containers**, 30% of jet fuel, 12% of liquefied natural gas and 8% of food** are produced through the Red Sea.
Since November last year, in order to show solidarity with Palestine, Yemen's Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea waters, and Maersk and other shipping companies have announced that they will suspend the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal and detour the Cape of Good Hope instead. In January this year, the United States and Britain began direct air strikes on Houthi rebel facilities in Yemen, which further exacerbated, causing more ships to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope.
At a time when major sea lanes are interrupted and the security of the global ** chain is facing challenges, the China-Europe Express, which has been attacked by foreign media as a more "symbolic" mode of transportation, has become the focus of their attention. At present, many European countries have increased demand for China-Europe trains, and they have begun to seek logistics solutions to replace sea with land.
Compared with the mode of sea transportation, what are the advantages of China-Europe trains?
The most outstanding advantage is stability. The CEO of Maersk warned that continued circumnavigation of the Cape of Good Hope would have widespread negative consequences for the global ** chain and even the global economy. Whether it's the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the drought in the Panama Canal, or the potential conflict near the Strait of Malacca, the U.S. Foreign Policy notes that the vulnerability of the sea choke point has been exposed. In contrast, the trans-Eurasian rail freight volume is more reliable and on time.
Look again**. Whether it is taking the Red Sea Passage or detouring the Cape of Good Hope, shipping has skyrocketed. According to the latest report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in February this year, shipping costs from Shanghai to Europe via the Suez Canal have been about three times higher since November last year**. According to the British shipping consultancy Drewry, the average cost of shipping a 40-foot container has almost doubled globally since late November last year. Compared with the China-Europe train, the best advantage of sea freight is no longer obvious.
Time is money. Due to the increase in the one-way transportation time of ships at sea, the turnover efficiency of container ships has decreased, and the navigation capacity has been insufficient. According to CITIC**, a bypass of the Cape of Good Hope will lead to a 26% and 51% increase in the duration of voyages from East Asia to Europe and East Asia to the Mediterranean Sea by 26% and 51% respectively compared to the Suez Canal. The route to the Cape of Good Hope may take up to 45 days, while the China-Europe train only takes about 20 days at most. Not only that, the China-Europe train is also speeding up. For example, on the fifth day of the first lunar month, Xi'an opened the first full-course timetable of the Year of the Dragon. It takes only 10 days to travel from Xi'an to Duisburg, Germany, which is 2 days shorter than last year and about a week shorter than the earliest train.
In the longer term, the popularity of China-Europe trains is inseparable from the continuous development and innovation over the past ten years, the development of routes from scratch, and the capacity from less to more. The latest statistics show that the cumulative number of China-Europe trains has exceeded 8 over the years50,000 columns, with a total of more than 2,600 columns running since the beginning of this year, achieving more than 1,000 trains in a single month for 46 consecutive months. It allows more and more European products to enter the lives of Chinese people, and makes "Made in China" more popular with European people.
As the main interconnection artery of the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Europe Railway Express has reached 25 European countries and 219 cities. It has opened up a new channel for land transportation and a new bridge for economic and trade cooperation in Eurasia, created a resilient international logistics chain, and injected new impetus into the development of Eurasia.
As you can see, the world economy can't function without global freight and commodities**, and more flexible alternative routes across Eurasia are essential. Under the current security situation, the advantages and contributions of the China-Europe Railway Express are invaluable. This fully shows that the Belt and Road Initiative conforms to the historical trend of economic globalization, the requirements of the times for the reform of the global governance system, and the strong desire of the people of all countries to live a better life.
International Critic Commentator).
Editor in charge: Jia Hongwei.