The 'China Railway Express (Yiwu-Liege) Alibaba eWTP Cainiao train', loaded with 82 cargo containers, arrived in Liege for the first time recently after a 17-day trip which saw it travel through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany, before arriving at the Belgian logistics hub.
According to a joint statement issued by the Chinese rail operator of the service, YXE International Container Train, the Wallonia Export Investment Agency (AWEX), Liege Logistics Intermodal (LLI) and Liege Airport, it is the "first dedicated rail line serving cross-border e-commerce between the Yangtze River Delta region of China, Central Asia and Europe."
It follows the launch in December 2018 of the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) Belgium initiative by Alibaba Group in association with the Belgian Government, to support inclusive cross-border trade.
The statement said that the Yiwu-Liege train line is initially scheduled to run once a week and is expected to shorten delivery times for goods flowing between Europe and China.
"Importantly, due to the high transport connectivity of Liege within Europe, goods can quickly be moved to Liege for export from Europe, and goods from China can move through Liege for shipment to buyers throughout Europe."
Michel Kempeneers, AWEX’s COO Overseas, underlined that Yiwu, situated in the central Zhejiang province, "is at the heart of e-commerce development in China, and the departure of cargo trains offers Walloon and European exporters new opportunities to reach the Chinese consumer market at a lower cost.”
He added: "There has been a huge response from our Chinese partners to receive the Walloon delegation in a few weeks' time. This will be the largest Belgian trade mission to China ever organized."
Bram Amkreutz, general manager of Liege Logistics Intermodal (LLI) commented: "Liege, being a fully-fledged logistical center in the heart of Europe with connections via rail (LLI), sea (Liege Container Terminal) and air (Liege Airport), launched the first train departing to China (Zhengzhou) in 2018. Now, one year later, a second connection has started up between Yiwu and Liege, strengthening Liege’s logistical ties with China."
For his part, Bert Selis, Cargo & Logistics manager, Liege Airport, noted: "The new Yiwu rail connectivity is in line with our development as a fully integrated logistics platform offering our partners seamless integration of their air-, rail- and ocean containers flows in one strategic location to serve the whole European market."
Last year, Liège was designated by Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, as one of five global hubs, the others being Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Moscow and Hangzhou.
The Chinese e-commerce giant subsequently announced that it will invest €75 million in its Liège ‘smart logistics’ hub, Cainiao leasing a 220,000 sqm facility that is scheduled to start operations in early 2021. The hub will support cross-border trade, especially between Europe and China, and help SMEs better manage their exports especially with the surge in global e-commerce, it noted.
Cainiao’s strategy is to meet Alibaba Group’s logistics vision of fulfilling consumer orders within 24 hours in China and within 72 hours anywhere else in the world by working with different logistics partners to create a single fulfilment network.
