Tianjin Port keeps cargo on the move

Cross-border freight trains have enabled Tianjin to continue in its role as a transfer hub of a sea-rail corridor linking Eurasian countries with the world.

Cross-border freight trains from the coastal city in North China carry Chinese products to Eurasian countries such as Mongolia and Russia. They also transport cargo to Eurasia that has arrived by sea from such as Japan and South Korea.

On Monday, a train carrying 54 containers containing auto parts and daily necessities left Tianjin to travel via Ereenhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia. It was the 754th such train operated by the China Railway Beijing Group this year.

Some of the containers arrived in Tianjin from other countries by sea.

"Tianjin Port, as one of the largest ports in northern China, receives a lot of imported cargo via the sea from places such as Japan, Korea, Europe and North America. The products travel to Tianjin by sea, and then make a transfer here and continue their journey by rail via China-Europe freight trains, to Eurasian countries, such as Mongolia and Russia," said Sun Kai, a manager at the Tianjin Freight Center of China Railway Beijing Group.

"Tianjin is located at the junction of the land and sea, both critical geographic locations in the Belt and Road Initiative. It is also the eastern starting point of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor," said Zhang Jinchao, deputy director of the freight transport department of China Railway Beijing Group.

"It is not only the maritime gateway of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, but also the closest coastal port to the major railway land ports of China-Europe freight trains such as Ereenhot and Alataw Pass in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, which has obvious advantages in transportation distance and time."

In March, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkiye, causing loss of life and destruction. In order to deliver relief materials to the disaster areas as soon as possible, a green channel was opened by China Railway Beijing Group from Tianjin to Turkiye using the China-Europe freight train.

Tianjin Customs has implemented a logistics measure to improve clearance efficiency, slashing clearance time to about 3 hours from two to three days.

"In the past, the containers arriving by sea had to be unloaded and stored at the port while applying for customs declaration. After the containers had been cleared, they could be transferred to the rail freight yard. The process took about two to three days. But now, cargo can be transported by truck to the railway freight station as soon as it is unloaded from the ship, eliminating various steps such as storage and moving at the dock. It reduces customs clearance time to about 3 hours on average," said Bo Xiaohui, an official from the Tianjin Customs.

According to China Railway Beijing Group, the China-Europe freight train from Tianjin operates in countries including Russia, Mongolia, Germany, Belarus, Turkiye and Kazakhstan.