The western and central regions of China are home to a multitude of manufacturing hubs of international companies serving a range of industries such as automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs. Until recently, however, connections to China’s main sea ports in the east of the country have been limited to road or inland waterway transport.
While road transport is associated with high costs, barge transport comes with long transit times, restricted availability of space and equipment, and complete suspension of services during the winter season. With China’s development plans for a new land-sea corridor, new and more convenient options are now opening up.
With the rail connection from Chongqing to Qinzhou Port, cargo-partner now offers its customers a significantly more time- and cost-efficient alternative to road and inland waterway transport. The route spans 1,200 km, and transit times amount to two days, with daily departures.
The new service covers 16 provinces in China’s western and central regions and is connected to cargo-partner’s rail transport service across the New Silk Road to provide access to numerous destinations in Europe, with comprehensive distribution options.
With the new intermodal rail-sea transport solution, cargo-partner achieves the same lead times as with combined road and sea transport, at roughly a third of the cost. From Chongqing to Hamburg, for instance, lead times by road and seafreight via Shanghai currently amount to approximately 35 days.
With combined rail and sea transport via Qinzhou, cargo-partner can offer lead times of approximately 33 days. Despite the fast speed, the rates per container differ only slightly from those for inland waterway transport and sea transport, which comes with lead times of 45 to 47 days.
Gill Wu, Managing Director Central China, confirms: “With our new combined rail-sea service from Chongqing via Qinzhou, we provide a highly beneficial solution for international shipments from and to the hinterland area of China. We are following the further developments along the new land-sea corridor so that we can keep providing the most efficient intermodal transport solutions.”
cargo-partner has been represented in China since 2004 and currently operates 16 offices across the country. 284 employees offer a comprehensive range of air, sea, land transport, warehousing and info-logistics solutions for various industries. With its rail transport solutions via the New Silk Road, the company provides weekly consolidation services with full coverage throughout Europe and China.
