A new 9,900km railway cargo route linking the Shenzhen port of Yantian with the Belarus capital of Minsk opened on Monday, adding another trade line to China’s planned economic corridor through Eurasia. A train with 41 containers, packed with Chinese products from mobile phones to car parts, is expected to take two weeks to reach Minsk via Central Asia. Chinese cities are jockeying to launch “direct cargo trains” to Europe to support President Xi Jinping’s ambitious new Silk Road trade plan, according to the South China Morning Post. The inland city of Chongqing now has a regular rail cargo service to Duisburg in Germany, and the export hub of Yiwu in eastern China has similar services to London and Madrid. According to state-owned rail operator China Railway, 29 Chinese cities, including Shenzhen, have launched direct freight lines to Europe, although most routes are along the same track.
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