DHL launches China – Belarus rail freight service

The new service passes through Alatau Shankou – Dostyk on the Chinese-Kazakhstan border which is already used by several other intermodal services, including rail connections from Chengdu, Zhengzhou, and Lianyungang to continental Europe.DHL will manage the new route together with China Brilliant, an integrated service provider in manufacturing and consumption with which DHL signed a memorandum of understanding in 2016. The service offers both less-than-container load (LCL) and full container load (FCL) for electronics, industrial and automotive parts, and fresh food from both both Eastern Europe and China.

“Eastern Europe’s economies are growing faster than almost any others worldwide, with significant export opportunities arising from the region’s rising wages and disposable income levels,” says Mr 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 European destinations like Warsaw, Hamburg and Tilburg via Brest. With Shenzhen’s economy exceeding expectations to grow by 9% last year, the route also opens sizable opportunities for European exporters.”

“The partnerships that DHL has with governments and businesses globally, coupled with our market strength in Shenzhen-based supply chains, have come together to create a solution that directly meets the needs of China’s expansion-hungry manufacturers and producers,” says Mr Zhang Chunhua, founder of China Brilliant Group.

DHL has been offering intermodal rail services connecting China, Japan, and southeast Asia with Europe since 2010 on the following corridors:

• North Corridor: Suzhou – Warsaw connecting Chinese engineering and manufacturing hubs to Europe in 14 days
• South Corridor: Lianyungang and Chengdu to Istanbul via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia including two water crossings in 14 days, and
• West Corridor: Zhengzhou – Hamburg (electronics), Chengdu – Lodz (high-tech and automotive products) and now Shenzhen – Minsk (electronics and consumer products).