“Iwasoneoftheonlytwoemployeesforon-siteallocationofcontainergoodsinmycompany,nowtheteamhasgrowntomorethan20people,”Wangsaid.ThedevelopmentofhisdepartmentisanindicatorofthegrowthinthevolumeofgoodstransportedbyCRE.FiveyearsagoonetraincommutedbetweenChengduandEuropeeachweek–todaythenumberisthreedaily.
CREoperatesfreighttransportationservicesbetweenChinaandEurope,andcountriesalongtheBeltandRoadroute.Itcompletedover9,000tripsbetweenMarch2011andJune2018,deliveringnearly800,000standardcontainersofgoodsbetween48Chinesecitiesand42citiesin14Europeancountries.ReachingmajorcitiesinAsiaandEurope,theCRErailisakeylogisticrouteforcountriesalongtheBeltandRoad.
InternationalAppeal
KasperKristensenhailsfromDenmarkandfellinlovewithChinaonhisfirstvisit20yearsago.Sincethenhehasspentvacationsinthecountryeveryyear.LastSeptemberhecametoChengdutopromotehismilkformulabrandRoyalFarm,hopingtheCREwouldoffernewbusinessopportunities.
“Inthepast,manyestablishedDanishbrandshadlittleknowledgeoftheChinesemarket.TheynowhavenoticedthebigdemandinChina,buthavenoideaofhowtoexploitit,”Kristensensaid.HeandhisChinesebusinesspartnerFuTiandecidedtocapitalizeonthisgapbysellingNordicproductstoChina.TheCREisagreathelpfortherealizationoftheirambition.OnMay21,2018China’sonlineretailgiantjdlaunchesafreighttrainservicebetweenHamburgandXi’an.“Sofar,nearly50popularbrandsfromnorthernEuropehavedecidedtocooperatewithus.TheirproductswillreachChinaonCREtrains,whicharefastandeconomical.Ourcooperationwillbeawinwinone,”saidFuTian,upbeataboutthebusinessprospects.
“IhopetobringthebestproductsofnorthernEuropetoChengduandChinaatlarge,sopeopleherewillloveourproducts,andenjoyabetterqualityoflife,”Kristensenadded.
AndrewYe,aChineseAmerican,andGuillaumeChamantofFrance,bothworkforSichuanRongouzhilianTechnologyCo.,Ltd.,whichimportswinefromEuropetoChinathroughonlinecross-borderbusinessplatformHaioo.ItsbusinessalsoreliesonCREservices.“IleftmyjobintheU.S.toworkinChengdu,becauseofthepromisingfuturebroughtaboutbytheCRE.Ihopemycompanywillgrowintandemwiththetrainservice,”Yesaid.“IloveChinaandChineseculture.IhopetolearnmoreoftheChineselanguageandgrowtogetherwithmycompany,”saidGuillaumeChamant.HebecamefascinatedwithChengduduringtwo-yearstudyattheInternationalTradeDepartmentofSichuanAgriculturalUniversity.
LikeKasperKristensen,FuTian,AndrewYe,andGuillaumeChamant,peoplefromallovertheworldareworkingontheirrespectivedreamsthathavebeenmadepossiblebytheCRE.WiththeincreasingnumberoftrainsoperatedbetweenChinaandEuropeinthepasttwoyears,morequalityEuropeanproductshaveenteredChengduandbeyondtootherpartsofChina.CREisanincreasinglyimportantbridgebetweentheEuropeanmarketandChineseconsumers.
FacilitatingCross-BorderTrade
TheopeningofCREhasmadetheparallelimportofcars(legalinChina)asoaringbusiness.Todate40-plustradecompanieshavesetupoperationsattheChengduInternationalRailwayPort.“ThebrandsimportedincludeBentley,Maserati,Mercedes-Benz,BMW,LandRover,andDodge.Itonlytakes10-odddaystobringEuropeancarstoChengduviaCRE,”saidZengYi,anofficialwiththeManagementCommitteeofChengduInternationalRailwayPort.AstoreattheChengduInternationalRailwayPortsellsagoodvarietyofimportedgoods.BesidesEurope,NorthAmericaandtheMiddleEastarethetwoothersourcesofparallelimportofcarstoChina.Forimportsfromthesetworegions,intermodalfreightisused,whichallowsfreighttoshipbyrailandresultsineconomicbenefits.“ChengduisthefirstinlandcityinChinathatparallelimportscarsfromtheU.S.byocean-railservices.WiththeimportroutebetweenChengduandQingzhouofShandongProvinceintheworks,wewillexpandwhole-carimportbusinesstoCentralAsia,”saidZeng.
CentralAsiaistheworld’slargestsourcemarketofautomobilesatthelowestprices,Zengadded.TheportisworkingtobringparallelimportcarsatthelowestpricepossibletoconsumersinChengduandsouthwesternChina,soaveragecitizenscanbenefitfrominternationalrailservices,includingthoseprovidedbyCRE.“Withoutthesurchargebymiddlemen,wewillmakeimportedcarsaffordabletoaverageconsumers.”ThisisthegoaloftheChengduport,accordingtoZeng.ZhouYongrunsatradingcompanyinChengdu,calledTasteofGermany.HeworkedasastewardonaDutchairlinerwhenthenewscamethattheCRE(Chengdu)launchedcontainerservicesforcross-bordere-business.Anticipatingabusinessbonanzainthearea,heresignedfromhiswell-paidjob,andfoundedacompanyinApril2017.HeisnowthegeneralagentofGermanwinemakerHeuchelbergWeingärtnerinChina.“ThewinerywasponderingonenteringtheChinesemarket,whichwasmadeeasybytheCRC(Chengdu).Afterameetingwithitsboss,westartedcooperation,”recalledZhou.
FromJuly2017toJanuary2018Zhouimported14,000bottlesofwineintwogroupsfromGermany,whichwereshippedtotax-freewarehousesinChengdubeforebeingdeliveredtobuyers.AtthetimeofwritingthethirdbatchwasonitswaytoChinaonaCREtrain.
Zhouoptedforcross-bordere-businessbecausetheCRE(Chengdu)serviceshortensthetransporttime,andthetaxonsuchimportsislow.“Generallythecommoditytaxforinternationaltradeis48.2percent,whilethatforcross-bordere-businessisonly21percent,”heexplained.
“Welaunchedaspecialcontainerserviceforcross-bordere-businesslastyear.Sincethen,thesmoothoperationofCREhasguaranteedthedevelopmentofcross-bordere-business.Thisyearwewillopenupmorechannelsforitsbusiness,andhenceboosttheconfluenceofcross-bordere-businesscompaniesintheregion,”saidQiaoPeishu,vicedirectoroftheBureauofCommerceofQingbaijiangDistrict,Chengdu.
Thedistrictisnowhometo36companiesengagingincross-bordere-business.Theydealmostlyinfastmovingconsumergoods,suchaswineandmaternalandchildsupplies,andreportedremarkablegrowthinbusinesslastyear.
“RidingthewaveofinvestmentflowingintotheChengduFreeTradeZone,wesetupanindustrialparkforcross-bordere-businesscompanies,”saidQiao.“Wealsoprovidecustomsclearanceservicesthatcanbebookedaroundtheclock.Wehavecarriedoutpromotioneventstoattracte-businesscompanies,andsteppedupcooperationandexchangeswithcountriesalongtheBeltandRoadwiththeaimofincreasingthequalityandvarietyofoure-businessproducts.”FirstbusinesslicenseissuedintheQingbaijiangRailwayPortintheChengduFreeTradeZone.Earlierthisyear,CREinitiatedafreight-tradeintegrationserviceforlogsfromSiberiatoChengdu,ahubofwoodtradeinsouthwesternChina.FromtherecontainerscarryingRussianlogscanreachtheentiremarketofsouthwesternChina.BetweenMarchandJuneofthisyearthespecialtrainserviceforRussianlogsmade55tripstoChina.
AnExtendingRailNetwork
LastyearLiChengyuan,anemployeeofChengduInternationalRailwayServicesCo.Ltd.(CDIRS),wastransferredtoarailwaystationandyardofthecompanyinMalaszweicze,atowninPoland.“Thetowncoversalargeterritorywithasmallpopulation.Therearefewjobsforyoungpeople,somostofthemmovetobigcitieslikeWarsawandKraków,andtheremainingworkinourlogisticsbusiness,”hesaid.TheBeltandRoadInitiativeandtheopeningoftheCRElinehavecreatedjobsforlocalresidents.
“WhenIfirstwalkedoutoftheWarsawChopinAirport,IsawmanyChineseelementsonthestreet,likeabillboardofHuaweimobilephones,avideoaboutgiantpandaonabigTCLscreen,andChineserestaurants,”Lirecalled.Ashespentmoretimeinthecountry,hewasmoreimpressedwithhowtheCREserviceandtheoperationofotherChinesecompanieshaveboostedlocaleconomy.“OnedayIwasinvitedtoaTCLfactoryinZyrardówCity.WhenIwastoldbyitslogisticsmanagerthatonlythreeChineseworkedthereandtheother300employeeswereallhiredlocally,IunderstoodthatthisrenownedChinesecompanywastakingitssocialresponsibilitiesseriously.”BeforetheCRElinewasextendedtotheregion,theTCLfactoryinZyrardówimportedpartsfortheelectronicappliancesitproducesbysea,whichtook33daysfromShenzhenorShanghaitoGdanskinPoland.Theywouldthenbetransportedtothefactorybyroadoverfivedays.AftertheCREopenedtheChengdu-Europeline,thepartscanbedirectlyloadedontrainsatHuizhou,aChinesecity,wheretheitemsaremanufactured,andtraveloverlandtotheTCLfactoryin21days.Theefficiencyhasbeensignificantlyimproved.
AccordingtoLi,duringtheWorldCup2018,TVsalessoaredinEurope,andasaresultTCLincreaseditspartsimportsexponentially,whichledtoariseinlocalworkers’income.“FollowingtheopeningoftheCREline,anumberofcargoyardshavebeenestablishedinLodz.Theycontributetothecity’seconomicgrowthandincreaselocalemploymentrate,bringinggreaterhappinesstolocalresidents,”Lisaid.TheCREtrainbringstangiblebenefitstopeoplelivingalongitsroute,connectingChinawithEuropeandtherestoftheworldandforgingfriendshipglobally.
“InthefirstsevenmonthsofthisyeartheCRE(Chengdu)hasrun600internationaltrains,amongwhichnearly500gotoEuropeandtheresttoCentralAsiaandASEAN,”saidZengYi.InternationalraillinesincludingCREareextendingfromChengdutoalldirections,buildinganewEurasianLandBridge.SofarCREserviceshavereachedLodzandMalaszewiczeinPoland,NürnberginGermany,MoscowandTomskinRussia,IstanbulinTurkey,MinskinBelarus,SmögeninSwitzerland,AlmatyinKazakhstan,PragueinCzechRepublic,TashkentinUzbekistan,GentinBelgium,MilaninItaly,andASEAN.Ithas16internationalraillinesthatconnectChengduwithEuropeinthewest,withRussiainthenorthandwithASEANinthesouth.Alsoreaching14coastalorbordercitiesacrossChina,CRE(Chengdu)isalinchpininbothdomesticandinternationalrailtransportnetworks.
“Lookattheredlinesonthemap,”saidZengYi.“InternationalraillinesincludingtheCREarelikeredribbonsthatstringcountriesandcitiestogetheralongtheBeltandRoad,makingtheircommunicationandtradefasterandeasier.”