On April 12 of this year, the first train of the China-Euro Express Railway (Chengdu-Euro Express Railway) to Austrian capital Vienna departed from the Chengdu International Railway Port. As of the beginning of May this year, a total of 2,127 international trains have run on this mature railway in the past five years. This amount ranked first in the country for two consecutive years in 2016 and 2017.

　　With the dense domestic and international network, a “Y”-shaped international logistics channel has taken shape, which is a solid foundation for integrating Sichuan into the “Belt and Road Initiative” , accelerating the pace of opening to the outside world, and actively promoting the coordinated development of international logistics, international trade capacity cooperation.

　　Large channel, large platform

　　"Y" - shaped international logistics channel connecting the world

　　Just with the arrival of the first train in the Southern Freight Center in Vienna, Mata, Austrian Railways CEO, revealed, “We hope that in 2018, the number of bi-directional train can increase to 600.” This figure is almost equal to the total volume in 2017.

　　According to the statistics of the Chengdu International Railway Port, the international part of the Railway has connected 16 node cities with 5 stably running public trains and 11 customized trains. Public trains include the China-Europe Line (Chengdu to Lodz, Nuremberg, and Tilburg), China-Russia Line (Chengdu-Moscow) and ASEAN International Sea-to-Rail Line (“Chengdu-Euro+” ASEAN International Sea-to-Rail Line opened from Chengdu to Qinzhou Port, whose destination extends to Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore). Customized trains are from Chengdu to Mara, Istanbul, Minsk, Smögen, Almaty, Prague, and Vienna and from Tomsk, Tashkent, Ghent and Milan respectively to Chengdu.

　　“China-Europe Express Railway has fully established a ‘Y’-shaped international logistics channel form Chengdu westward to the hinterland of Europe and countries in Central Asia, northward to Russia, and southward to the ASEAN ” An official of Chengdu International Railway Port said.

　　“Getting on” the trains on the Railway, the domestic lines are constantly intensified to become a network. At present, a quick and containerized channel of interconnecting14 “Chengdu-Euro+” cities along the coasts or border area, including Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Rizhao, and Qinzhou, has been formed, which can expand the goods source radiation scope to the Yangtze River Delta. Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim and other economically developed regions.

　　"Currently, Chengdu-Euro Express has formed a network pattern in which domestic and foreign teams are closely linked to and support each other, becoming the only China-Euro express with a stable support of railway.” The official said.

　　Great economic and trade exchanges

　　A new “golden channel” for trade between Europe and Europe has been built.

　　In 2017, parallel car sales in Sichuan accounted for 15.7% of the country. Sichuan is far away from sea and frontier, so where do these parallel imported cars come from? Why is it growing with prosperity in this large western province?

　　Opportunities came quietly two years ago. In January 2015, Chengdu International Railway Port was approved for the import of auto vehicles. In September 2016, eight ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Commerce approved the pilot of parallel-import for automobiles. With the advantage of the Railway as a golden freight channel and vehicle import port platform, Sichuan has bid farewell to the history of transiting from Tianjin Port or Shanghai Port. With the higher logistics efficiency and lower transportation costs, parallel imported vehicles have met the huge needs of consumer market in Chengdu and spurred western regions such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet.

　　China-Europe Express Railway + Chengdu International Railway Port + China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone brings about sorption:

　　In March 2016, the entry for designated meat import of Chengdu International Railway Port was officially accepted to operate. At present, multiple batches of imported meat such as Dutch pork and Belarusian beef have arrived, thus it becomes the first port in China for European meat directly through international railway transportation; since the full launch of the cross-border e-commerce business in the railway port in January 2018, it has taken the lead in the country to implement the cross-border direct mail by the Railway and Sichuan’s first cross-border e-commerce bonded stocking import business; the successful operation of “Chengdu-Euro +” international trains has promoted a number of TCL, LG, Volvo and other companies to transfer to the region, and in 2017, the achieved capacity transfer was 12.5 billion yuan. At the same time, through the promotion of “Sichuan Goods Going out of Sichuan”, the export trains for goods of Changhong directly to Prague and that of Geely to Minsk have opened; the integration of high-quality industries, technologies, standards and services in Sichuan including An Yue’s lemon and Wenjiang’s flowers is promoted to enter Europe.

　　More changes have emerged, newer explorations are still in progress, and a bigger pattern is emerging. Today,  “one Railway, one port and one zone” is creating a further chemical reaction between Europe and Sichuan, forming a positive interaction between “bringing in” and “going out” –

　　the Logistics Distribution Center of Chengdu-Europe Express Railway established through cooperation with Lodz, Poland, a Sino-Russian international wood processing industrial park established through cooperation with Russia, overseas warehouses for cross-border trade developed through cooperation with Tilburg, the Netherlands, the “Special Promotion Conference of Qingbaijiang in Czech” held in Prague,  a friendship city agreement signed with Ostrow in Greater Poland, and the “China-EU Cooperation and Investment Forum” hosted in Milan...