New Silk Road Successfully Established Between Hamburg and Xuzhou

The Port of Hamburg is an important destination for rail traffic between China and Germany. Since November of last year, a new connection between Xuzhou and Hamburg has been established. In May, the Port of Hamburg expects at least two more trains from the Chinese city of Xuzhou. Thus, the latest connection with the Xuzhou-Europe Railway Express has also been established in the Hanseatic city.

(Hamburg/Xuzhou) The first train to Hamburg departed from the Tongshan freight station in November of last year. Its route passed through Russia, Poland, and Hamburg, among other places. From there, the remaining containers were further distributed across Europe. In recent years, 232 connections have been established between 20 Chinese destinations and Hamburg. The volume of intercontinental rail traffic between China and Hamburg alone increased by about seven percent in 2020. Overall, the volume rose to 107,000 TEU. Currently, nearly 40 trains operate weekly between various provinces in China and Europe’s largest railway port. “The new Silk Road is an important complement to sea traffic for the global supply chain between China and Germany. The positive developments clearly show that the service is very well received,” says Axel Mattern, Managing Director of Hafen Hamburg Marketing.

Impact on Handling

Correspondingly, the handling is also increasing. This is exemplified by the operator Xuzhou Huaihai International Land Port. Here, the handling in the first eleven months of last year rose to 24,190 TEU. This represents an increase of 56 percent compared to 2019. The Chinese operator has ambitious goals to establish the location as an important hub for Silk Road traffic to Europe: “With Hamburg, the Xuzhou-Europe Railway Express offers its customers another connection to Central Europe. From the Tongshan freight station in the southwest of Xuzhou, goods can reach the Hanseatic city in just 18 days via Erenhot, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, and Poland,” states Xuzhou Huaihai International Land Port.
Last year alone, 300 trains from Xuzhou primarily brought consumer goods and construction machinery from companies like Xugong, Liebherr, Hitachi, and CAT to Europe. On average, a full train departs with 94 containers and a weight of nearly 470 tons. Depending on traffic conditions, it takes an average of 15 days for the over 6,000-kilometer route.

Xuzhou One of the Largest Railway Hubs in China

The conditions are favorable, as Xuzhou is one of the largest railway hubs in China. Several high-speed lines converge here, such as those between Beijing-Shanghai and Lianyungang-Lanzhou. The freight station is the largest in East China and is operated by China Railway. At the same time, the city is directly connected to the ports of Ningbo-Zhoushan, Shanghai, and Lianyungang on the east coast via canals. The district-free city is located in the northern part of Jiangsu Province in East China and has an administrative area of 11,257 km² and around 8.6 million inhabitants.
Additionally, Xuzhou is home to the Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG), a Chinese construction machinery company. The company develops, produces, and sells construction machinery such as trucks, cranes, earthmoving, and road construction equipment. It is the fifth-largest construction machinery company in the world and also sends its goods via its own train along the New Silk Road to Central Asia, Russia, and Europe. Some of these were among the 300 trains that brought primarily consumer goods and construction machinery from Xuzhou to Europe last year, including products from companies like Xugong, Liebherr, Hitachi, and CAT. On average, a full train departs with 94 containers and a weight of nearly 470 tons. Depending on traffic conditions, it takes an average of 15 days for the over 6,000-kilometer route.
Photo: © HHM / Sebastian Engels