From April 13th to May 8th 2020, a total of 58 Mercedes-Benz imported China-compliant finished vehicles were separately transported from Duisburg, Germany to Chongqing, China by China Railway Express in three batches. The freight forwarding service of the whole transportation was provided by Shanghai Tieyang Multimodal Transportation Co.,Ltd. The cargoes were transported via Poland, Kazakhstan and entered China via Alashankou. The average transit time of each batch was about 15 days. All the vehicles have arrived at Tuanjiecun Railway Station of Chongqing soundly before May 8th.
At the very time of COVID-19 epidemic outbreak in Europe, the German Government implemented a self-isolation regulation for all residents, which leads to a shortage of transport capacity in EU. Negative influence on the efficiency of original daily operation including cargo pick-up, packing, and stationing appears.
Under the pressure of European epidemic prevention/control and with full consideration of the practical obstacles such as the reduced operation capacity of railway station and highway connections in EU area, the sales and operation team of Shanghai Tieyang, in order to further save the cost of vehicle storage and simplify the supply chain, finally recommended the customer to adopt the solution of batch transportation by China Railway Express.
The pick-up location of imported vehicles was Stuttgart in southwest Germany, which is under the key service covering area of Tieyang's container management business in EU. Shanghai Tieyang fully utilized the transport network advantage in EU to haul the cargoes to D3T station in Duisburg in batches. It only took 1 working day for the "door-to-station" link. The subsequent warehousing and car inspection process took 1 working day each, and vehicles packing, Customs declaration and cargo loading were also completed within 1 working day. The transit time from cargo pick-up to train delivery is 4 days. The total transport time of imported vehicles in each batch was controlled at 18-19 days including 15 days on the eastbound Chongqing China Railway Express, which saving up to three weeks for customers compared to their original sea freight mode.
In addition, the Mercedes-Benz imported vehicles were amounted to 58 sets, consisting of two models as 29 Mercedes-Benz S-class and Maybach S-class. Due to the longer length of Maybach S-Class, our operation team had thoroughly communicated with customer for several times, and finally adopted the container loading plan of one single 40'HQ accommodating one Mercedes-Benz and one Maybach .
The first batch of German imported finished vehicles departed at April 3rd and arrived in Chongqing at April 27th. After the customs declaration in the next day, cargo unloading and empty container return were completed. On May 11th, the vehicles were transferred to Chongqing Lianglu/Cuntan Free Trade Port Area; the second batch of 18 sets imported cars departed on April 18th and arrived on May 4th; while the third batch with a total of 14 cars set out on April 23rd and arrived on May 8th. The latter two batches of imported cars will also be transferred to Chongqing Lianglu/Cuntan Free Trade Port Area recently.
The photograph of imported vehicles arriving in Chongqing:
The first batch of imported vehicles
Strengthening & loading of each imported vehicles in container
Imported China-compliant finished vehicles driven out of container
Arrival of the third batch of imported vehicles
Imported vehicles in the parking lot of Chongqing Tuanjiecun
Tieyang staff with cars on site
Tieyang staff in Supervision Zone of Chongqing Automobile Port
Imported vehicles were parked in Customs warehouse for inspection, and would be released later.
The first batch of imported vehicles were transferred to Chongqing Lianglu/Cuntan Free Trade Port Area
The People's Bank of China: The situation of trade import & export is still severe
The People's Bank of China published a report on May 10th, stating that COVID-19 epidemic had an unprecedented impact on global economic development in the first quarter of 2020. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the measures of epidemic control in China has been vigorously promoted, and the work resumption of enterprises has gradually reached normal levels. China's State Council promptly issued a series of policies on trade stabilization and measures to support the recovery of enterprises.
The vast majority of foreign trade enterprises are striving to take the lead and seizing the opportunity to ensure booking orders in order to expand the export business. While the policy bonus has gradually been released and the decline of imports and exports have been eased in April, the spread of COVID-19 outside the country has not been effectively curbed. The international market demand has shrunk severely, and the global industrial chain & supply chain have been critically impacted. The upcoming uncertainty and instability are inevitable and unpredictable, China's foreign trade is still facing a very serious situation and under the great pressure of downward trend.
China Railway Express, rising against the trend
< From January to April 2020, totally 2,920 China Railway Express (262,000 TEUs) were operated, reaching up to an increase of 24% and 27% year-on-year growth respectively, and the average heavy containers loading rate was 98%. Among them, there were 1,638 trains (148,000 TEUs) on westbound journey, up 36% and 40% respectively year-on-year, with the heavy container loading rate as 99.9%; the eastbound journey was 1,282 trains (114,000 TEUs), up 11% and 14% year-on-year with the heavy container loading rate as 95.5%. Since the outbreak of the epidemic at the beginning of 2020, China Railway Express has achieved a reverse trend growth. >
The growth against the trend of China Railway Express has also contributed to global anti-epidemic efforts. Due to the severe epidemic situation in Europe, the local life and epidemic prevention materials are in high demand. Considering the transit time and logistics cost many epidemic prevention cargoes was transported by China Railway Express. Accordingly, China National Railway has specially deployed to ensure the transportation of China Railway Express with full capacity for the international cooperation in the prevention of epidemic.
< Since the first relaunch of Yiwu China Railway Express carrying anti-epidemic materials to Europe on March 21st, China Railway Express have transported a total of 660,000 items of anti-epidemic materials, weighing up to 3,142 tons by the end of April. The main countries of arrival included Italy, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Netherlands, Lithuania, etc., these destinations were also acting as the logistics nodes to allocate cargoes to other surrounding European countries, CRE has strongly promoted the international cooperation in global epidemic prevention. >
There is no doubt that the stable operation of China Railway Express has become an important transportation link connecting China, Europe and countries along “Belt and Road” initiative during the epidemic prevention and control period. It has become a vital support for stabilizing the international supply chain during special historic periods.
With the full resumption of domestic enterprises, the cargo supply on westbound CRE trains is generally sufficient. However, the serious epidemic situation in EU has led to the implementation of stricter anti-epidemic measures in related countries and regions. The connection of European highways and logistics distribution have been impacted, some factories have been temporarily shut down, and the cross-border clearance capacity has declined as well.
Relevant personnel of China National Railway Group said that the transit time of China Railway Express is now longer than usual, and the total cargo amount of eastbound trains has also declined. At present, the cargo imbalance on the bidirectional transportation of entire China Railway Express becomes as a distinct issue. In response to this circumstance, China National Railway Group will further strengthen the cooperation of international multi-modal transportation, adopt a support policy for stabilizing China Railway Express, and effectively guarantee the smooth transportation at railway ports, minimizing the impact of the European epidemic on China Railway Express as much as possible.
Relying on the favorable policies of "Belt and Road" initiative and the guidance & support from China National Railway Group, Shanghai Tieyang is making unremitting efforts to expand our business, and actively developing the market of eastbound freight for China Railway Express. During the practical operation of transporting imported vehicles, we did feel the negative influence caused by epidemic on daily work, and also encountered a series of problems including the shortage of truck capacity, inadequate operational capacity in German railway station and difficulties in allocating empty containers. Fortunately, with the strong support from our shareholders and our efficient logistics network in EU, Shanghai Tieyang has successfully completed the transportation project of 58 sets imported vehicles, which lays a solid foundation for further cooperation with our clients.
As the all-the-miles international multimodal transportation logistics solution provider specialized in cross-border railway, Shanghai Tieyang has always focused on service quality, relying on the rich experience of the operation team and the advantages of overseas networks, to provide customers with best transport solutions and efficient logistics services. In the meantime, thanks to CRE Chongqing platform for the remarkable efficiency on both rail transportation and Customs clearance, which became a great help for Shanghai Tieyang on the imported vehicles project. It obviously proves that China Railway Express has gradually become the essential channel to connect the automotive trade between China and EU, releasing great market potential and possibility.
For more information about the TMT imported China-compliant finished vehicles freight forwarding service, please feel free to contact us via:
Tel: 0086 21 61322741 Mr. Zhou