After the border between Poland and Belarus was announced to be reopened, several Central European freight companies found that freight volumes are slowly recovering. The previous closure of the border had affected trade, including goods transported by the China-Europe freight trains. This situation occurred after Poland decided to reopen the border crossings with Belarus following a temporary closure.

Xinhua reported that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Poland has decided to reopen the border crossings with Belarus from Wednesday to midnight on Thursday.

Xinhua reported that due to the joint military exercises "Western-2025" held between Russia and Belarus from September 12 to 16, Poland closed all border crossings with Belarus at midnight on September 12.

Reuters reported that the closure of the border led to more than 130 China-Europe freight trains being stranded at the Brest border crossing on the Belarusian side.

The CEO of Polish logistics company Fulfilio Sp. z o.o., Arkadiusz Filipowski, told Global Times that if both sides operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it is expected to take seven to ten days to clear the accumulated cargo volume. He also added that for priority and time-sensitive goods, the delay could be reduced to one or two days.

The CEO said, "We expect that during the period of clearing the accumulated cargo, there will be a temporary single-digit percentage premium compared to normal periods, and the transportation time will also increase by an additional two to five days. After that, the situation will return to stability."

Shao Bo, general manager of ITL Group based in Xi'an, told Global Times on Wednesday that the border closure did not affect goods bound for Russia and Belarus, but severely hindered goods transported via China-Europe freight trains to European destinations.

Shao Bo said that due to the border closure, enterprises in the industry have been exploring alternative routes, one of which is crossing the Caspian Sea, and another is multimodal transport through St. Petersburg, after which the goods are loaded onto ships to cross the Baltic Sea and arrive at European ports.

This border closure coincided with the recent opening of the world's first China-Europe Arctic container train route, which connects Ningbo Zhoushan Port in eastern China's Zhejiang Province to Felixstowe Port in the UK.

Shao Bo said that compared to the recently opened Arctic route, the China-Europe freight train route offers more choices, and only requires 40-50 containers to be consolidated for departure, allowing for quick response to the transportation needs of small and medium-sized batches of goods. The Arctic route is more suitable for large-scale, long-term transoceanic freight planning.

However, Shao Bo also said that this border closure has given customers a new understanding of the importance of diversifying transportation routes, creating certain conditions for the promotion and development of alternative routes in the future.

At a press conference in June, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian commented on the data that the cumulative number of China-Europe freight trains has exceeded 110,000, with a value of over $450 billion, stating that a China-Europe freight train departs every 30 minutes or so, operating efficiently, stably, and smoothly. It not only bridges economic and trade exchanges between Asia and Europe, but also injects growth momentum into countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

Lin Jian stated that the China-Europe freight trains are a microcosm of China's cooperation in connecting with the world. From the smoothly operating China-Laos Railway and the Western Land-Sea New Channel Trains, to the ongoing construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway, new routes have improved cross-border logistics efficiency, promoted more people and trade exchanges, deepened industrial collaboration and value chain integration, driven industrial upgrading in relevant countries, and brought real gains to local people.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7553925378218164755/

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