New Silk Road

The so-called "New Silk Road" spans between China and Europe by train. Shipments are much cheaper than air-freight and sea-air, and faster than sea-freight with the fastest transit-time at 15 days. Whichever corridor is chosen, it is always characterized by a challenging rail gauge change between CIS countries and the rest of the world. Trains are relatively small, with a maximum of 41 to 60 wagons due to both European and China regulations. Here are the transit-times China/ Europe by mode of transportation in decreasing cost order:

  • Air:           1 day (most expensive)
  • Sea-air: 15 days (second most expensive)
  • Rail:       15 days (second cheapest)
  • Sea:      30 days (cheapest)

Today's yearly capacity of the New Silk Road is 500,000 TEUs and will rise to 1 million TEUs by 2020. It is expected to capture up to 10% of the China/ Europe trade's air-freight volumes, while very little of the sea-freight volumes. On the other hand, it is key to land-locked Central Asia countries trades and is their major transportation gateway to/ from China and Europe. It unlocks those countries, helps them develop, and therefore welcomes them into Humanity global integration.

2 Corridors & many Trades

Depending on the corridor you use, the New Silk Road transit-time varies from 15 to 21 days from China hub to Europe hub, with at least a weekly departure. Some trades offer up to 3 departures per week. As there are only 2 continuous railways connections between China and Europe at this point in time, we base our origin/ destinations trades on those 2 core services:

  • The northern line (China - Manzhouli gate - Russia - Malaszewicze gate - Europe, and vice-versa)
  • The southern line (China - Alashankou/ Khorgos gate - Kazakhstan - Malaszewicze gate - Europe, and vice-versa)

Out of the existing 12 New Silk Road railways trades that currently exist, SLI offers you 8 gateways westbound from China to Europe and 6 gateways eastbound from Europe to China.

Image published by courtesy of SCMO - Supply Chain Management Outsource

Image published by courtesy of SCMO - Supply Chain Management Outsource

China / Europe (Westbound)

We offer railways services from China to Europe especially dedicated to the electronics, IT hardware, machineries & appliances, chemicals, cosmetics, food & beverage, high-end footwear, E-commerce, and luxury clothing & textile sectors. In China, we have identified 8 hubs located next to key railways nexus, and in proximity to China main industrial & production centers. From there, we distribute all over Europe to all the locations you need:

  1. Changsha (Hunan)/ Europe
  2. Chongqing (Chongqing)/ Europe
  3. Hefei (Anhui)/ Europe
  4. Suzhou (Jiangsu)/ Europe
  5. Wuhan (Hubei)/ Europe
  6. Xiamen (Fujian)/ Europe
  7. Yiwu (Zhejiang)/ Europe
  8. Zhengzhou (Henan)/ Europe

Europe / China (Eastbound)

We also offer railways services from Europe to China especially dedicated to the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, cosmetics, optical, E-commerce, and luxury sectors. In Europe, we have identified 6 hubs located next to the main railways nexus, and in proximity to large industrial & production centers. From there, we distribute all over China to all the locations you need:

  1. Duisburg (Germany)/ China
  2. Hamburg (Germany)/ China
  3. Lyon (France)/ China
  4. Madrid (Spain)/ China
  5. Malaszewicze (Poland)/ China
  6. Tilburg (Netherlands)/ China

Multi-Modal Ground Transportation

SLI offers flexible, reliable and efficient overland transportation services, including road, rail, and inter-modal services. We are well positioned and qualified to help your company develop efficient and tailor-made domestic and trans-border programs for distributing your cargo via the New Silk Road. Our road and rail specialists will ensure operational excellence as well as cost-effective solutions that meet your needs in terms of transit time, flexibility, and innovation with an emphasis on value-added services.

Our New Silk Road service portfolio covers the ground forwarding of shipments from parcels to groupage, part- and full loads to wagon loads and block trains, inter-continental transportation services to and from Greater China and Europe:

Our services are complemented by options that are dedicated to your specific needs, such as additional security measures for high-value cargo. Our road and rail New Silk Road services can be seamlessly combined with our air and sea freight services within our worldwide network. Thanks to our global network of agents, we have the power to support you and help your business grow, according to your changing needs. We can thus offer you true multi-modal door-to-door solutions at any location, at any time, and at any cost.

These New Silk Road services are dedicated to all SLI clients, especially those in the sectors of automotive, electronics, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, E-commerce, and luxury. It may be of interest to you, when a 30 to 45 days transit-time is too long, and when you can afford a 15 to 21 days transit-time so as to gain a strong optimization of your transportation costs compared with air-freight.

For more information on how we can support your New Silk Road transportation needs, please contact your local SLI representative.