The first China-Europe freight train arrived in London. Chinese train reaches London First train from China to UK

January 18 freight train from Chinese city Yiwu Zhejiang arrived in London. The train was sent on January 1, this is the first container freight train China - UK. The total length of the route was 12451 km.

China-Europe trains are container trains for transit rail traffic on the China-Europe-China route. This is a key part of the concept economic development and the basis for the prosperity of the countries along the Silk Road.

Along the way, the train passes the Alashankou customs post, passes through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium, France, and then arrived in the UK through a tunnel under the English Channel. The train's cargo is mainly clothing, bags and other consumer goods made in China. The train of 34 wagons delivered a total of 68 freight containers to the UK.

Chairman of the Board of Operator Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co. Ltd Mr. Feng Xubin noted:

“The use of this rail route will change the structure of cargo transportation between China and the UK. Land transportation has a number of advantages over traditional transportation by sea and air, a new railway track fills the logistical gaps in the links between China and the UK. Therefore, I consider this route to be a 'direct link flight between China and the UK'."

Yiwu City is the world's largest center for the sale of small consumer goods. AT last years exports to the UK are rapidly increasing. According to statistics, from January to November 2016, Yiwu City's total import and export amounted to US$569 million, up 10% year-over-year. The UK ranked first in Europe in terms of exports from the Chinese city of Yiwu.

Delivery time using the new rail route has been reduced by almost a month compared to the slow sea transport. The cost of the entire route is only 20% of air fares. This train for the first time crossed the tunnel under the English Channel, passed the whole of Eurasia from east to west. This route opens up and provides new opportunities for the logistics markets of many countries located between China and the UK.

The director of the China-English Trade Association, Mr. David Martin, commented on the event as follows:

"This event is very great importance, it's not just a train that arrived in the UK from China. This is the result of the Belt and Road Economic Development Initiative. Our Sino-English Trade Association is confident that this rail route will help English goods find their way into the markets of China and other countries and regions in Asia.”

Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London for Commerce, also said that the arrival of the first train from China to the UK is the best demonstration of the fact that London is one of the best cities for China to develop trade. London is also a starting point for entering Western markets. He declared his readiness to provide Chinese enterprises with professional services and financial services channels, and help develop business in the UK market.

The envoy of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, Mr. Zhu Qing, at the welcoming ceremony of the China-Europe train, also noted that the arrival of this train marked new step forward in building cooperation within the framework of the One Belt, One Road initiative.

This rail route has key value not only for cooperation in the framework of "One Belt, One Road", but also the development of bilateral trade between China and the UK. The UK government and the business community are very interested and enthusiastic about participating in building the Belt and Road Initiative. The arrival of the China-Europe train provides a new impetus to improve bilateral trade."

The first freight train from China arrived in London. Railway communication between China and European countries is being intensively expanded within the framework of the New Silk Road state project, and now another step has been taken.

The journey took 18 days. He delivered 34 containers with clothes and other consumer goods produced in China to the capital of Britain. The train route ran through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France.

From now on, trains will depart on this route weekly. At first glance, questions may arise regarding the appropriateness of such transportation. However, the economics are very simple: shipping goods this way is about five times cheaper than by plane, and faster than by sea. I will add, Britain became the 18th European country, with which the PRC has established direct rail links, and London is the 15th European capital, where regular freight trains from China run.

In the direction of China, there are also many trains. From Germany, for example, they carry meat products, from France - wine, and from Russia - wood.

However, we are talking not only about logistics. The Chinese authorities are successfully strengthening their "New Silk Road" project with agreements with the countries through which it runs.

According to Vice Minister of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China Yin Hejun, recent times agreements on cooperation in the field of science and technology were signed with a total of 49 countries.

"Scientific innovation plays a positive role for the Belt and Road Initiative, excellent results have already been achieved... China has signed science and technology cooperation agreements with 49 countries along the New Silk Road, and also launched a series of affiliate programs in these areas," the official was quoted by the People's Daily. He also said that scientific innovation is one of the key aspects of the development of the New Silk Road concept.

Background

In April 2016, a Chinese transport company acquired a 67% stake in the second largest Greek port of Piraeus. In the future, the port will be connected by a high-speed railway with Hungary and Germany. In July, the third stage of work began at a nuclear reactor designed by Chinese specialists in Pakistan, the construction of a highway will be financed, in addition, Chinese companies will invest about $ 2 billion in a coal mine in the Thar Desert. So for the first 5 months current year more than half of China's foreign contracts were concluded with countries that are located along the Silk Road route.

PRC politicians work almost as hard as infrastructure builders. In June, Xi Jinping visited Serbia and Poland, then traveled to Uzbekistan, after which he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As a result of this meeting, the parties agreed to link their infrastructure plans with the New Silk Road project. At the same time, finance ministers from nearly 60 countries met in Beijing to discuss the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), set up to finance some infrastructure projects.

The new railway route from China does not pass through the territory of Ukraine, as previously assumed.

The first train departed from the city of Yiwu in eastern China and is due to arrive at its destination in about 18 days, covering 12,000 kilometers.

It is noted that the train is carrying a batch of clothes, bags and other consumer goods. In recent years, China has expanded its rail transportation to European countries as part of the state-run "New silk road".

This type of cargo delivery, as noted, should be a middle link between cheap, but slow delivery by sea and fast, but expensive air.

The train route passes through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. The UK will be the eighth destination on the list of destinations for China-Europe freight trains, and London will be the 15th European destination for China-Europe freight trains.

Recall that in November 2016, however, the new route does not pass through Ukrainian territory.

As it was supposed earlier, the project of the transport corridor "New Silk Road" will pass from the European Union through Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan to China.

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A freight train left China from the Jivu West station in Zhejiang province, the final destination of which is London. The distance of 11,930 kilometers train with clothes and bags, as follows from the report of the Xinhua news agency, must overcome in 18 days. The first railway train traveling from the extreme east of Asia to the extreme west of Europe will have to pass through the territory of 7 Asian and European states: Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, not counting the final and starting points of the journey. I am glad that among the transit states, Russia, despite the rumors at one time that the New Silk the way will pass around its territory. The news is good, because with the opening of regular communication between Asia and Europe, a new source of income will appear in the state budget.

Attention to the railway communication is quite understandable, the delivery of goods by rail is much cheaper than transportation by air and faster than by water. And the Maritime Silk Road, which runs much south of Russia and exists precisely as an alternative, judging by the Baltic Dry - the main economic index showing the scale of maritime trade - is now at a historic low. And the first train that went from China to London on the Russian Trans-Siberian Railway demonstrates that new economic processes have begun.

The super-long route will be operated by the state-owned China Railway Corporation (CRC). In the list of its routes, the UK was the eighth final destination, and London was the 15th final city. Other European CRC cities include Madrid and Hamburg.

The route between Jiwu and London is part of the giant One Belt, One Road project announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of 2013.

And now Tokyo is seriously discussing at the government level the possibility of building a 9.6 thousand km long Trans-Siberian Railway, which will allow travelers to get from London to Tokyo without leaving the railway car. The Trans-Siberian will bypass the already existing route with the final destination in Vladivostok. New route will pass through Khabarovsk and further to Sakhalin through a 6-kilometer underwater tunnel. A new railway will be built on the island to the northern Japanese island Hokkaido. The final part of the route will be another underwater tunnel 42 kilometers long.

They give their own cautious comments about the opening of a new railway route from China to London. The first train left the city of Yiwu in eastern China on Sunday. The journey to London will take about 18 days and will cover 12,000 kilometers through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, the train's cargo consists of clothes, bags and suitcases, among other goods.

“China also uses rail as a diplomatic method abroad. Chinese train manufacturers have turned their attention to new markets in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia to secure rail-related business while also bidding on high-profile contracts in the developed world,” writes the Bangkok Post. The article refers to the rail route between Europe and Asia as "rather unique" because the bulk of the freight traffic by sea. Shipments from Asia to Los Angeles are delivered by sea in about 10 days, while they can take up to 30 days to the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

The website of the American agency Bloomberg also commented on this news. “While a train from China to London can carry about 200 containers compared to 20,000 containers on a heavy sea ​​vessel, shipping will take half as long as almost 30 days sailing between East Asia and Northern Europe,” writes Bloomberg. This would “make rail a competitive option when ocean freight is delayed or missed its scheduled departure time, especially when compared to air freight, which costs twice as much,” the chief operating officer of the UK transport company Brunel Shipping Michael White.

Under President Xi Jinping's strategy, China initially allocated about $40 billion to finance the development of roads and railways abroad, while trade with countries along the transport corridor could reach $2.5 trillion over the next decade, according to the article, citing the words of Yao Gang in 2015, then vice chairman of the China Regulatory Commission valuable papers.

"PROFESSIONAL TERRORISTS"

On the German site Deutsche Welle in the article “Terrorists by profession? IS recruits fighters from Central Asia" analyze the situation with the recruitment of "recruits" to fight on the side of the extremist group "Islamic State" in (IS) from Central Asia, calling Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan "a profitable recruiting zone." The exact number of IS fighters in Syria from Central Asia is unknown. New York-based strategic security agency Soufan Group estimated in December 2015 that about 4,700 IS fighters were from the former Soviet Union. More than half of them are Russian citizens, mainly from Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. The second largest group were approximately 500 fighters each from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The article quotes some Russian experts as saying that recent international coalition offensives against ISIS in Syria and Iraq "most likely resulted in the death of a large number of Central Asian fighters" and "many fighters are returning home via Turkey." Russian security expert Lev Korolkov, in particular, noted that joining the IS has become a “new type of labor migration” for Central Asian militants. According to him, "experts believe that more people from Central Asia join the “jihad” for financial rather than ideological reasons.” With the tightening of migration policy in Russia and the return of many young migrants from Russia to their homeland in Central Asia, they can become "easy prey for IS recruiters."

After the terrorist attack in a nightclub in Istanbul, where new year's eve dozens of people were killed and injured, it was reported that this unprecedented attack was the work of a native of Central Asia. His search continues. In Turkey itself, there was a wave of indignation that the attack could have been carried out by a native of Central Asia, from a region that Turkey considers fraternal and friendly.

CHEAP FOR LIFE

The Serbian site Numbeo.com published a ranking of countries in the world by cost of living in 2016. Kazakhstan was in fourth place in this ranking among the cheapest countries in the world to live, after India, Moldova and Pakistan. The most expensive places to live, according to the Serbian website, in 2016 were Bermuda, Switzerland, Bahamas, Norway and Iceland.

In total, 122 countries were evaluated on the site according to criteria such as the cost of renting housing, food, prices in restaurants, etc. The site explains that the evaluation parameters are given in comparison with New York. The Consumer Opportunity Index for Kazakhstani residents, according to the site, is 59.30, which means that Kazakhstani residents with an average salary can purchase 40.7 percent fewer goods and services than New Yorkers with an average salary. Whereas the cost of living in Kazakhstan (excluding rental housing), according to the site, is 26.82 points, which is 73.18 percent cheaper than in New York. The publishers of the Serbian site assure their reader that their research is not influenced by any government organizations.