URUMQI: Steady growth in China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train services, along with industrial upgrading and rising consumer demand in China and other Eurasian countries, is expected to further boost bilateral trade in the coming years, say market watchers and exporters.
Speaking at the 9th China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, they said expanding cooperation in high-end manufacturing, green energy and the digital economy will advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
They added that it would also inject fresh momentum into regional economic integration and sustainable growth.
Wan Zhe, a professor of regional economic development at Beijing Normal University, said the complementarities between China’s manufacturing capabilities and the development needs of Eurasian economies are becoming increasingly evident.
Beyond facilitating trade, China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train services are helping integrate industrial and supply chains.
“They are also enabling businesses to respond more quickly to market demand and supporting the growth of higher-value trade in sectors such as advanced manufacturing and clean energy,” Wan said.
For example, Alashankou (Alataw Pass) railway port, located in Xinjiang’s far northwestern corner, has handled more than 56,400 China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train trips over the past 15 years, accounting for more than 30% of the national total, data from Urumqi Customs showed.
In the first five months of this year, 3,753 freight train services passed through the Alashankou railway port, up 15.4% year-on-year (y-o-y).
Currently, 128 freight train routes pass through the Alashankou railway port, linking China with 21 countries.
The variety of cargo has expanded from electronic products and daily necessities in the early years to more than 200 categories of high value-added goods, including new energy vehicles and precision instruments, said Urumqi Customs.
In addition to shipping its products via China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train services, Ningbo Asia Pulp and Paper Co, a pulp and paper manufacturer based in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has in recent years seen robust demand for its products in Kazakhstan, particularly for food packaging paper.
Chen Xilin, the company’s director of customs affairs, said the company’s portfolio of high value-added specialty products is well positioned to meet Kazakhstan’s growing demand for premium packaging materials used for products sold both domestically and overseas.
Among the products are food-grade coated kraft paper, aseptic liquid packaging paper and plastic-free cup paper.
Ningbo Asia Pulp and Paper Co’s exports to Central Asian countries rose 36.09% y-o-y to 25.2 million yuan during the January to May period, while exports to Central and Eastern European countries totaled 113.6 million yuan, an increase of 6.35% on a yearly basis.
In the meantime, Ningbo’s exports to Central Asian countries rose 43.97% y-o-y to 3.86 billion yuan, while exports to Central and Eastern European countries increased 8.2% to 22.2 billion yuan, statistics from Ningbo Customs showed.
The trend was also reflected in Suzhou, East China’s Jiangsu province. Suzhou Samsung Electronics Co, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, exported six million yuan worth of home appliances, including refrigerators and washing machines, to Tajikistan between January and May, up 140% y-o-y, according to Nanjing Customs. — China Daily/ANN
