Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

A SINO-EUROPE freight train, carrying iron and plastic products in 100 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) arrived at Pinghu South Cargo Yard on Wednesday after the two-week trip from Poland.

After customs clearance, the cargo will be sent to Incheon in South Korea from Shekou Port in western Shenzhen.

The train was the first Sino-Europe freight train in Shenzhen to have adopted the sea-land transportation mode that formed a new passage to link Europe, Shenzhen, South Korea and Japan.

According to Shenzhen Sinotrans Logistics Co. Ltd., the cargo forwarding company, it generally takes about 45 days by way of ship for products traveling between Japan, South Korea and Europe.

The land and sea multimodal services cut the trip by half to 22 days. It greatly reduces the cost and improves the efficiency, and helps enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to improve their competitiveness in the global market.

Customs statistics showed a total of 33 Sino-Europe trains had been operated since the service was launched in August last year. A total of 16,000 tons of commodities at 900 million yuan (US$139 million) were handled.