Analysts say that the newly opened freight train connection between Wuhan, China and Milan, Italy will add a valuable new option for promoting bilateral trade. According to data from TRA Consulting, the new link launched last month adds to the already rapidly growing train link network between China and Europe.

According to the statistics of TRA Consulting, by 2020, the number of trains between China and Europe will be 12,406, compared with 8,225 a year ago, and the number in 2018 was 6,363, almost doubled. But until last month, these trains did not regularly arrange direct freight connections between China and Europe. Italy.

Oliver Fiorini, an economist and trade analyst at ABS Securities in Milan, said: “The trade between China and Italy is already intensifying. This will add a new option, which will make trade links faster and better. effective."

Even before the plans for the Wu Milan link were drawn up, the economic relationship between China and Italy was very strong. In 2019, Italy and China signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative. That year, China once again became one of Italy's largest trading partners.

Data from the data company Statista shows that 7% of Italy's imports come from China, second only to Germany and France. According to reports, China is the ninth largest purchaser of Italian products in 2020, accounting for 3% of Italy's total exports.

According to data from TRA Consulting, only a small part of the trade between China and its European partners is transported by train: only 2% of the total in 2017, compared with 6% for road transport and 28% for air transport. %, the sea route is 64%.

But according to Andrea Girissin, a professor of transportation economics at the University of Milano-Bicocca and CEO of TRA Consulting, the popularity of rail transportation has only just begun to grow.

Giuricin said: "Expensive air transport can deliver the goods in one day, while cheap cargo ships take 30 or 35 days to transport the goods from China to Italy. The train is the middle point between the two."

According to Wuhan Asia Europe Logistics Co., Ltd., the freight train from Wuhan to Milan completed its journey within 21 or 22 days. Giuricin said that transportation costs are much lower than air transportation costs, but more expensive than cargo ships. Trains between China and Europe are still too slow in transporting perishable goods. But these links are ideal for automobiles, auto parts and electronic products. He expects that, at least for the next six to seven years, the rail link between China and Italy and other European ports of call will achieve strong growth. Editor/Sang Xiaomei