How the North can aid the East

In January, I watched the first-ever China-UK freight train pull into London's Barking Station in front of a crowd of reporters, several diplomats and a troupe of lion dancers.

I tried to figure out what was on its way from Yiwu, Zhejiang province - household wares, bags and socks - and wondering what would go the other way.

That question remains up in the air. Regardless, it was evident to those in attendance that the Belt and Road Initiative had well and truly arrived in Britain. The promising proposal was now tangible, and wrought from iron and steel.