Promoting China's Belt and Road Initiative Amid the Suez Crisis

Source: Global Times

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] China has seen an increase in inquiries about its railway transportation network due to the shipping chaos caused by the Suez Canal incident, and is promoting the Belt and Road Initiative.

China's state-run media Global Times reported on the 6th that as the Suez Canal accident posed an unprecedented challenge to the global supply chain, the China-led Belt and Road Initiative is emerging as a new alternative.

The Global Times stated that although the congestion caused by the nearly two-week-long ship grounding in the Suez Canal has been resolved, the aftereffects of the congestion remain, leading to an increase in shippers' inquiries about transporting goods by train instead of by ship.

The media reported that inquiries about train transportation using China's railway network have increased about threefold since the Suez Canal accident.

Although all 422 vessels that had been waiting passed through the canal after the Ever Given, which blocked the canal, was refloated on the 29th of last month, experts said the repercussions could last much longer, the media added.

Tom Fowdy, a British political scientist, recently said, "Although it was a relatively short-term blockade, the aftermath will continue for a long time," and evaluated that "it will be advantageous for China and Russia, which are introducing groundbreaking intercontinental freight trains."

Zhou Suhao, CEO of the global logistics online service platform Winchna, stated that inquiries about freight train transportation have increased two to three times since the Suez Canal accident. He emphasized that freight transport from China to Europe takes 30 to 40 days by ship, whereas by train it takes only 15 to 25 days.

Bao Mo, an employee of another freight company in Zhejiang Province, said, "Since this incident, urgent freight transport by train, including containers carrying electronic devices bound for Hamburg, Germany, has increased by 30 to 35%."

Shipping industry expert Wu Minghua said, "Since COVID-19, the operating rates of some overseas ports have been low, so the on-time rate for maritime transport between China and Europe is only 40 to 60%," adding, "In contrast, freight trains can achieve up to about 80% on-time performance."

He further claimed that China's Belt and Road Initiative has invested hundreds of billions of yuan in creating new ports, railways, and roads across multiple continents, and as a result of these investments, the logistics environment is undergoing significant changes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.