A freight train arrived from China to London for the first time, delivering containers with socks, handbags and other goods worth $5 million to the British capital.

The name of the locomotive of the freight train that arrived from China to London refers to Mao Zedong's quote, "The east wind is always stronger than the west." Photo: EPA

The train with the symbolic name “East Wind” covered 12 thousand kilometers in 16 days and crossed the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium, France and Great Britain.

Now the vast majority of container cargo from China to Europe is coming by sea, it's cheap, but it takes a long time - the difference in speed can be fivefold.

China will use the Trans-Siberian Railway primarily for trade with Russia, and not for transit

The train that arrived in London had two tasks: firstly, to test the route, and secondly, during the European tour of Chinese President Xi Jinping, to demonstrate that the concept of the Silk Road economic belt works, notes the head of the Finance and Economics department " Institute modern development Nikita Maslennikov.

An important detail for Russia is that the train passed through Kazakhstan, and not through the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The route is most often chosen by the buyer and his logistics operator, based on the tariff, load and speed. The route through Kazakhstan is the shortest and fastest if the train comes from central, southeastern and southern China, where the main production sites are concentrated. The route through Kazakhstan will play a key role in the implementation of the Silk Road economic belt project, insofar as it concerns connections with Europe. China will use the route through Zabaikalsk and the Trans-Siberian Railway primarily for trade with Russia, and to a lesser extent for transit; its advantage from the point of view of Chinese exporters is less congestion, explains General Director of the InfraNews agency Alexey Bezborodov.

In Central Asia, transit of Chinese goods, in addition to the transport corridor" Western Europe- Western China", which passes through Kazakhstan, sooner or later the route will go through Kyrgyzstan. As Adamkul Zhunusov, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission, previously told RG, Kyrgyzstan plans to receive financial support for the long-standing China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project " within the framework of the "interface" of Eurasian integration and the "Silk Road". Russia, in turn, counts on China's support for the development of the throughput and transport capabilities of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian Railways.

What exactly China will choose will be shown by this year’s “coupling” negotiations. In any case, China and its partners will need several more years to solve infrastructure problems and make delivery by rail to Europe profitable, notes Nikita Maslennikov.

Containers are returned empty from Europe to China due to the peculiarities of China's trade exchanges. China imports food and raw materials, but products in Europe are quite expensive, and there are no raw materials for sale at all. Our food producers can take advantage of this. The Russian Export Center and Russian Railways are negotiating with the Chinese side to reduce tariffs for rail transportation of food products from Russia to China. Lots of goods from different suppliers will be consolidated into Kaluga region, on the territory of China, a “hub” is supposed to be set up in Guangdong province.

The "Chinese Dragon" reached England by rail in 16 days. Photo: EPA

A freight train departed from China from Jiwu West station in Zhejiang province, with its final destination being London. A train with clothes and bags, as follows from a report by the Xinhua agency, must cover a distance of 11,930 kilometers in 18 days. The first train traveling from the far east of Asia to the far west of Europe will travel through the territory of 7 Asian and European countries: Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, not counting the final and starting points of the journey. I am glad that Russia is also among the transit states, despite rumors circulating at one time that the New Silk Road would bypass its territory. The news is good, because with the opening of regular communication between Asia and Europe, a new source of income will appear in the state budget.

The attention to railway communication is understandable; delivery of goods by rail is much cheaper than transportation by air and faster than by water. And the “Maritime Silk Road”, which runs significantly south of Russia and exists precisely as an alternative, judging by the Baltic Dry - the main economic index showing the scale of maritime trade - is now at a historical low. And the first train that passed from China to London along the Russian Trans-Siberian Railway demonstrates that new economic processes have begun.

The operator of the extra-long route will be the state railway company China Railway Corporation (CRC). On its itinerary list, the UK is the eighth destination and London is the 15th destination. Other European CRC cities include Madrid and Hamburg.

The route between Jiwu and London is part of the gigantic Belt and Road project announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of 2013.

And in Tokyo, the possibility of building a 9.6 thousand km long Trans-Siberian Railway is now being seriously discussed at the government level, which will allow travelers to get from London to Tokyo without leaving a railway carriage. The Trans-Siberian Railway will bypass the existing route with its final destination in Vladivostok. The new route will pass through Khabarovsk and further to Sakhalin through a 6-kilometer underwater tunnel. A new railway will be built on the island to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The final part of the route will be another underwater tunnel with a length of 42 kilometers.

The new railway route from China does not pass through the territory of Ukraine, as previously assumed.

The first train departed from the city of Yiwu in eastern China and is expected to arrive at its destination in approximately 18 days, covering 12,000 kilometers.

It is noted that the train is carrying a consignment of clothes, bags and other consumer goods. IN last years China has expanded its rail transport to European countries as part of the government's New Silk Road project.

This type of cargo delivery, as noted, should be a middle link between cheap but slow delivery by sea and fast but expensive by air.

The train route passes through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. The UK will become the eighth destination on the list of countries served by China-Europe freight trains, while London will become the 15th destination among European cities to receive freight trains from China.

Let us remind you that in November 2016, however, the new route does not pass through Ukrainian territory.

As previously assumed, the New Silk Road transport corridor project will run from the European Union through Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan to China.

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The first freight train from China arrived in London. Railway communication between China and European countries is intensively expanding within the framework of the state project "New Silk Road", and now another step has been taken.

The journey took 18 days. He delivered 34 containers of clothing and other consumer goods produced in the Middle Kingdom to the British capital. The train's route ran through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France.

Now trains will depart on this route weekly. At first glance, questions may arise regarding the advisability of such transportation. However, the economics are very simple: sending goods this way is about five times cheaper than by plane, and faster than by sea. Let me add that Britain has become the 18th European country with which China has established direct rail connections, and London is the 15th European capital where regular freight trains run from China.

Many trains are also heading towards China. From Germany, for example, they bring meat products, from France - wine, and from Russia - wood.

However, this is not just about logistics. The Chinese authorities are successfully strengthening their New Silk Road project with agreements with the countries through which it runs.

As stated by Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China Yin Hejun, for Lately Cooperation agreements in the field of science and technology were signed with a total of 49 countries.

“Scientific innovation plays a positive role for the Belt and Road Initiative, and excellent results have already been achieved... China has signed agreements on cooperation in the field of science and technology with 49 countries along the New Silk Road, and has also launched a series of partnership programs in these areas," the official was quoted as saying by the People's Daily newspaper. He also stated that scientific innovation is one of the key aspects of the development of the New Silk Road concept.

Background

In April 2016, a Chinese transport company acquired a 67% stake in the second largest Greek port of Piraeus. In the future, the port will be connected by high-speed rail to Hungary and Germany. In July, the third stage of work began on a nuclear reactor designed by Chinese specialists in Pakistan; the construction of a highway will be financed; in addition, Chinese companies will invest about $2 billion in a coal mine in the Thar Desert. Thus, in the first 5 months of this year, more than half of China’s foreign contracts were concluded with countries located along the Silk Road route.

China's politicians work almost as intensively as infrastructure builders. In June, Xi Jinping visited Serbia and Poland, then went to Uzbekistan, after which he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As a result of this meeting, the parties agreed to link their infrastructure plans with the New Silk Road project. At the same time, finance ministers from nearly 60 countries met in Beijing to discuss the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), created to finance some infrastructure projects.



They give their own cautious comments about the opening of a new railway route from China to London. The first train left the city of Yiwu in eastern China on Sunday. The journey to London will take about 18 days and cover 12 thousand kilometers through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. The train's cargo included clothing, bags and suitcases, among other goods, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

“China also uses rail travel as a diplomatic method abroad. Chinese train makers have turned their attention to new markets in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia for rail-related orders, while betting on high-profile contracts in the developed world,” writes the Bangkok Post. The article calls the railway route between Europe and Asia “quite unique”, since the main cargo flow goes by sea. Cargo from Asia to Los Angeles by sea takes about 10 days, while to the Dutch port of Rotterdam it can take up to 30 days.

The website of the American agency Bloomberg also comments on this news. “While a train from China to London can carry about 200 containers, compared with 20,000 containers on a heavy-duty ocean vessel, the delivery would take half the time of a nearly 30-day voyage between East Asia and Northern Europe,” Bloomberg writes. This will "make rail a competitive option when sea freight is delayed or misses its scheduled departure time, particularly compared to air freight, which costs twice as much," the UK's chief operating officer told Bloomberg. transport company Brunel Shipping Michael White.

Under President Xi Jinping's strategy, China initially allocated about $40 billion to finance the development of roads and railways overseas, while trade with countries along the transport corridor could reach two and a half trillion dollars over the next decade, the article reported, citing Yao Gang in 2015, then vice chairman of the China Regulatory Commission valuable papers.

"PROFESSIONAL TERRORISTS"

On the German website Deutsche Welle in the article “Terrorists by profession? “IS recruits militants from Central Asia” analyze the situation with the recruitment of “recruits” to fight on the side of the extremist group “Islamic State” in (IS) from Central Asia, calling Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan “a profitable recruiting zone.” The exact number of IS fighters in Syria from Central Asia is unknown. The New York-based strategic security agency Soufan Group estimated in December 2015 that about 4,700 IS fighters were from the former Soviet Union. More than half of them are Russian citizens, mainly from Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. The second largest group was approximately 500 militants each from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The article quotes some Russian experts who believe that recent international coalition offensives against IS in Syria and Iraq “have likely resulted in the death of large numbers of Central Asian fighters” and “many fighters are returning home through Turkey.” Russian security expert Lev Korolkov, in particular, noted that joining the Islamic State has become a “new type of labor migration” for Central Asian militants. According to him, “experts believe that more people from Central Asia are joining “jihad” for financial rather than ideological reasons.” With the tightening of migration policies in Russia and the return of many young migrants from Russia to their homeland in Central Asia, they may become “easy prey for IS recruiters.”

After the terrorist attack at a nightclub in Istanbul, where dozens of people were killed and injured on New Year's Eve, information emerged that this unprecedented attack was the work of a Central Asian. The search for him continues. In Turkey itself there was a wave of indignation that the terrorist attack could have been carried out by a native of Central Asia, from a region that in Turkey is considered fraternal and friendly.

CHEAP TO LIVE

The Serbian website Numbeo.com published a ranking of countries in the world by cost of living in 2016. Kazakhstan was in fourth place in this ranking among the cheapest countries in the world to live, after India, Moldova and Pakistan. The most expensive places to live, according to the Serbian website, in 2016 were Bermuda, Switzerland, the Bahamas, Norway and Iceland.

In total, the site rated 122 countries based on criteria such as the cost of rental housing, food, prices in restaurants, etc. The website explains that the evaluation parameters are given in comparison with New York. The consumer opportunity index for Kazakhstan residents, according to the site, is 59.30 points, which means that Kazakhstan residents with an average salary can purchase 40.7 percent fewer goods and services than New Yorkers with an average salary. While the cost of living in Kazakhstan (excluding rental housing), according to the site, is 26.82 points, which is 73.18 percent cheaper than in New York. The publishers of the Serbian site assure their readers that the research they conduct is not influenced by any government organizations.