Train route opens doors for Jiaozhou

A freight train carrying mechanical equipment, textile products, garments and household appliances left Shilong, a town in Dongguan, Guangdong province, on Oct 17. Two days later it arrived in Jiaozhou, a county-level city in Qingdao, Shandong province. The cargo was unloaded and transported by sea to its final destination of South Korea.

The launch of the train, called the China-South Korea Express, marks the opening of a new trade route between China and South Korea. The train is operated by the Multimodal Transport and Customs Center in Jiaozhou. The center currently runs five trade routes to foreign countries.

According to the center, the train can hold up to 25 carriages with 50 cargo containers. Every week, three trains run from Shilong to Jiaozhou, then the cargo is sent to South Korea. The journey within China takes less than 33 hours, with the total travel time, including shipping products by sea to South Korea, takes four days. It normally takes 11 days from Guangdong province to South Korea by sea.

The Multimodal Transport and Customs Center started operations in December 2014. Since then, it has served more than 1,000 companies dealing with export and import businesses in Jiaozhou and surrounding regions. The center has handled some 110,000 cargo containers since its opening and has cut down on the average customs clearance time for imported goods by 13 hours - for exported goods, customs clearance times have been shortened by 1.4 hours.

Authorities said the center helps foreign companies save about a third of their logistics costs.

According to the Commission of Commerce in Jiaozhou, the Multimodal Transport and Customs Center operates one trade route connecting China and Central Asia, as well as five routes to other foreign countries.

fuchao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/04/2015 page11)