DHL adds another China-Europe rail link

DHL manages new route with supply chain partner China Brilliant, providing both LCL and FCL service to DHL customers.

DHL Global Forwarding has launched the first regular service connecting Shenzhen to Minsk, Belarus via rail in less than 12 days. The new route covers new overland connections to several major cities along China’s “Belt and Road” and is the latest route in the DHL Asia-Europe-Asia multimodal network.

DHL will manage the new route together with China Brilliant, an integrated service provider in global manufacturing and consumption with which DHL signed an MOU last year. Offering both Less-than-Container Load (LCL) and Full Container Load (FCL) services along the route, DHL gives businesses increased flexibility to meet rapidly growing and evolving market demands for electronics, industrial and automotive parts, and fresh food in both Eastern Europe and China.

“Eastern Europe’s economies are growing faster than almost any others worldwide,¹ with significant export opportunities arising from the region’s rising wages and disposable income levels,² ” said Steve Huang, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Greater China. “Minsk offers Chinese businesses an efficient gateway into the Baltic States and Nordic countries in addition to other major European destinations like Warsaw, Hamburg and Tilburg via Brest.”

“With Shenzhen’s economy exceeding expectations to grow by 9% last year,³ the route also opens sizable opportunities for European exporters looking to sell to one of China’s most vibrant trade and business hubs, or use it as an important gateway to Southeast Asia and the rest of the Chinese consumer market. Our newest route further supports strategic infrastructure projects designed especially to support the Belt and Road, such as the Great Stone Industrial Park – the largest joint project between China and Belarus that will span decades;⁴ strengthens bilateral ties between the two countries; and also lays the groundwork for further rail connectivity to the Nordic and Middle Eastern states involved in the Belt and Road.”