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Jenny Z.

China railway to Europe

Updated: Aug 17, 2021

Trans-Eurasia logistics also known as the China railway express refers to the containerized international rail intermodal freight trains running between China and Europe and countries along the "Belt and Road" according to fixed schedules and routes. This article will focus on the route of China railway to Europe.



Three routes from the West to the Middle East and China-Europe express trains have been laid: the western route runs from the central and western regions of China via Alashankou (Khorgos), the central route runs from North China via Erlianhot, and the eastern route runs from the coastal areas of southeast China. Depart from Manzhouli (Suifenhe). In March 2011, the first trans-Eurasia train departed from Chongqing to Duisburg, Germany, opened the prologue of the innovative development of both China and Europe.


During the epidemic, the opening of the China Railway Express was recognized by customers, which created an opportunity for its market-oriented operation. After the test of the epidemic, the quality of China-Europe Express trains has continued to improve. As the process of market-oriented transformation continues to accelerate, its vitality and vitality will be further enhanced.


The operation of China-Europe Express trains relies heavily on financial subsidies from Chinese city. Chinese city subsidies play an important role in the cultivation of the China-Europe Express train market, but subsidies also bring about vicious competition among train companies. Therefore, with the development of the China-Europe Express, calls for the reduction or cancellation of subsidies have gradually arisen. After the epidemic, many industry insiders and experts believe that the conditions for the market-oriented transformation of China-Europe Express trains are becoming more mature.


Neptune Logistics is a senior international transportation and logistics enterprise with a large-scale transportation qualification for large-scale objects. It can undertake international transportation services in Central Asia, Mongolia, and other countries and regions. Over the years, it has served large-scale state-owned enterprises and multinational corporations in the logistics of large-scale engineering projects. The business involves transportation in Central Asia, West Asia, petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, water conservancy and hydropower projects, electric power engineering, and large machinery.


The main competitors of China-Europe Express are sea freight. The advantages of sea freight are large volume, low freight rate, mature system and international traffic, but its disadvantage is the long cycle. Therefore, sea transportation is suitable for transporting large-volume, cycle-sensitive goods (such as clothing, shoes and hats, daily groceries, imported cars, etc.). If the value of the goods is high or the cycle is required, if it is small, it will be transported by air (such as mobile phones). , Chips, etc.), but there is still no solution for large items. Therefore, in addition to the two logistics methods of air and sea, there is still a blank area: sea freight is too long, but air freight is not suitable or the cost is too high. Its corresponding commodity types are mainly fresh fruits, red wine, machinery equipment and spare parts, laptops, etc.


Railway transportation, sea freight, air freight and road transportation each have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is not that that kind of transportation has absolute advantages and obvious disadvantages.


First of all, transportation methods need to be classified according to short distance transportation and line-haul.


Short distance transportation:

The advantages of road transportation are obvious, fast, flexible, less affected by policies, and cheap (price war + diesel price index), but their disadvantages are that they are not environmentally friendly, have poor safety factors, low supervision, and load restrictions (especially heavy goods, Only railways, and ships can be transported) and are greatly affected by the season. Therefore, objectively speaking, only customers with medium and long-distance transportation needs can become railway transportation customers.


The advantages of air transportation are quick, customs clearance is fast (the airport customs office is relatively concentrated), the degree of mechanization is high, and the safety of goods is high, and the harm to the transportation of radioactive materials is minimal. Needless to say, the disadvantages of air transportation are obvious. The price is expensive, plus before and after the airport The cost of truck connection is higher than that of railway connection because the airport is generally farther than the freight station.

The advantages of shipping are cheap, the shipping schedule is stable, and the longer the route, the cheaper the unit freight, but the disadvantage is that it is relatively slow, and the ship can call at the port according to the draught. The larger the single shipping volume, the lower the unit cost, so the ship With more positions, the ship's draft is deep, and the number of ports that can be called is relatively reduced. This is the concept of a basic shipping port that we usually call.


Rail transportation is only one-fifth of the air, and the time is more than half shorter than that of sea transportation.


Although shifting air cargo to rail transportation will certainly reduce emissions, shipping containers will continue to have significant carbon advantages over transcontinental railways, especially now that most ships are sailing slowly to save energy and gasoline.

For customers with a high value of goods, railway transportation has greatly saved high air transportation costs. For example, the goods carried by China-Europe Express now include a series of electronic products such as household appliances, machinery and equipment, auto parts, IT products, and laptops. The trend has also shown a shift to high value-added products, such as precision instruments, which have also been transported from air to rail.


For customers with low value and large volume, for example, some small and medium-sized enterprises will give priority to sea transportation, because enterprises of this kind of goods usually cannot afford the high cost of railways. However, there are two situations in which small and medium-sized enterprises choose railway transportation:

First, the goods orders are urgent. When the company receives a more urgent customer order, it will choose rail transportation regardless of cost.


Second, increase the speed of capital turnover. For these customers, the time cost is also very important. The cost of air transportation is too high for them, and the shipping cycle is too long. At this time, the company will choose rail transportation between the two. Therefore, the China-Europe Express is not only a bridge between China-Europe trade but also an indispensable part of land, sea, and air multimodal transportation.


Advantages of the Railway transportation of Neptune Logistics

  1. Perfect international road transport coverage network After years of development and accumulation, it has long-term and stable cooperative relations with many major automobile ports and can be delivered from any origin in China to any place of delivery abroad.

  2. Cargo security: Strict quality control. Because of the condition of the car and the quality of the driver, the requirements of “two reports per day, the problem must be reported” are strictly implemented; all the loading and unloading links will be arranged on-site; the real-time updating technology will be successfully introduced to ensure the safety of goods from all aspects.

  3. Can provide fast-track resources for no-queue in the peak season of international road transport When the highway port is in the peak season, the congestion is very serious. Most vehicles need to line up for 6-10 days at the national gate to leave the country. The port has a green channel specially designed for the designated name (such as fruits and vegetables), without long queues. Neptune Logistics and the port department have long-term cooperative relations. During the critical period, the general goods can be quickly exited through the green channel to ensure the timely delivery of goods.

  4. Capacity guarantee: Branches outside the Neptune and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have long signed several road transport fleets, both import and export international motor transport can guarantee adequate transportation.

Railway export operation process

China-Europe freight train export, China-Europe freight train import, China-Europe freight train FCL, China-Europe freight train LCL, Guangzhou/Shenzhen-Europe rail transport

Work before consignment: Before consignment, the packaging and marking of the goods must be handled in strict accordance with the relevant clauses in the contract, the provisions of the International Merchandise Association, and the protocol.

  • The packaging of the goods should be able to fully prevent the goods from being lost and decayed during transportation, and ensure that the goods will not be damaged by repeated loading and unloading.

  • Cargo markings, indicating plates and transportation markings, cargo tags, the contents mainly include the symbol and number of the product, the numberof pieces, the station name, the name of the consignee, etc. The handwriting should be clear and not easy to fall off, to ensure that it will not fall off during multiple changes.

General procedures for cargo consignment and carriage

When consigning the goods, the consignor shall submit the goods waybill and a copy of the waybill to the station as a written application for the consignment of the goods. After receiving the waybill, the station should conduct a careful review, check whether there is an approved monthly, ten-year cargo transportation plan and daily car plan for the whole truck, and check whether the contents of the cargo waybill are correct. If it is confirmed that it can be carried, the station will immediately When the visa is written on the waybill, the date the goods should enter the station and the date of loading, which means that the consignment is accepted. The consignor moves the goods into the station or the designated cargo space according to the date specified by the visa and checks the actual goods according to the records of the cargo waybill by the railway, and it is deemed that it meets the requirements of the International Merchandise Association and relevant rules and regulations, and the station can recognize it. When the goods are generally loaded, the shipping station is stamped with the date of carriage on the goods waybill, which is the carriage. When shipping less-than-carload cargo, the shipper does not need to prepare a monthly or ten-day car plan when consigning and can apply for consignment at the station with the waybill. After the station accepts the consignment, the consignor should move the goods into the yard according to the date specified by the visa, Delivered to the designated cargo space, after inspection and weighing, it will be handed over to the railway for safekeeping. The goods consigned by the consignor from the station have been accepted together with the goods waybill, and when the date of carriage is stamped on the goods waybill, it means that the goods have been accepted. The railway shall take custody of the goods after being carried, and shall be responsible for loading and dispatching.

Carriage is the beginning of the railway being responsible for the delivery of goods, which means that the railway has begun to assume the delivery obligation for the goods consigned by the consignor and bear all the responsibilities for delivery.



Shipping documents

  1. INTERNATIONAL THROUGH RAIL WAYBILL is a transportation contract concluded between the shipper and the railway. It stipulates the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of the railway and the shipper and the consignee in the transportation of goods. Both have legal effects.

  2. Chinese export goods must be attached with "Export Goods List", "Export Goods Declaration Form" and "Export Foreign Exchange Verification Form". In addition, according to threquirements of the regulations and contracts, the "Export License", quality certificate, and commodity inspection must be attached. certificate. Health and quarantine certificate, animal and plant inspection, packing list, weight list, laboratory test list, certificate of origin and shipping list, and other related documents.


General procedures for handover of export goods

  1. The practical handover of the intermodal export cargo is carried out at the border station of the receiving highway. After receiving the shipping bills passed by the railway transfer company, the port forwarding company shall check whether the number of documents attached to it is complete and whether the contents are correct according to the intermodal waybill. If there are any defects such as contradictions, inconsistencies, etc., they shall be corrected according to the relevant documents or notices. , add.

  2. Customs declaration and inspection: After the shipping documents are verified, the obvious export goods will be intercepted in three copies (two for perishable goods), and then the relevant shipping documents will be sent to each joint inspection unit for review and release.

  3. Goods handover: After the train with complete documentation procedures leaves the country, the staff of the delivery route at the border station of the neighboring country will work with the staff of the receiving route to hand over the bills and goods, and conduct a comparison check according to the handover list. Handover is divided into general cargo railway handover and perishable goods trade bilateral handover.

The value and significance of China-Europe Express

The logistics channels between Asia and Europe mainly include sea channels, air channels, and land channels. The China-Europe train is characterized by its short distance, high speed, and high safety, as well as the advantages of being safe, fast, green, and environmentally friendly, and is less affected by the natural environment. , Has become the backbone of land transportation in international logistics. The logistics organization of China-Europe freight trains is becoming more and more mature, the economic and trade exchanges of countries along the trains are becomingmore dynamic, and the participation between rail routes, ports, customs, and different divisions between nations getting closer. These favorable conditions will further play the role of the railway in the international logistics backbone. It played an important role in turning the Silk Road from the original "business road" into an "economic belt" for industry and population agglomeration.

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