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The longest rail link in the world, dubbed1 the "silk road express," connects the industrial hub of Yiwu on the East coast of China with the Spanish capital Madrid.
The link, first established late last year, is part of the Chinese government’s plans to create a "21st century Silk Road" and boost trade with both Central Asia and Europe.
The first direct freight train from China to Madrid carrying Christmas paraphernalia2 arrived in December.
世上最长铁路促进中欧贸易
Since then, there have been three more round trips from Yiwu to Madrid.
The journey, spanning over 8-thousand miles cuts across eight different countries, which has created logistical issues, as the cargo4 has to be moved on to different trains three different times along the route because of incompatible5 rail gauges6 in different countries.
Still, Analyist Mario Esteban with the Elcano Royal Institute, a Spanish think-tank, says sending material along the line still poses fewer security risks than using sea routes.
"Most of the trade between China and Europe goes by the sea because is cheaper, even though it takes a bit more of time. What's the problem? This long sea route passes by very sensitive strategic areas, such as strait of Malacca or the Gulf7 of Aden."
Another issue is cost.
Sending goods on the route costs around 5-thousand US dollars per container, which is more expensive than shipping8 by sea.
Still, Zhang Ruizhi, a top manager at a Chinese Import-Export firm, says sending non-perishables by train still makes economic sense.
"The time it takes to ship is much faster than traditional sea shipping. The train takes approximately 18-21 days. Compared with sea shipping, it's about twice the speed of shipping by sea. Although it's longer than air transport, but the cost of shipping by train is far more economical. As a result we chose to import our goods by train."
It is also more environmentally friendly than road transport, which would produce 114 tonnes of CO2 to shift the same volume of goods, compared with the 44 tonnes produced by the train – a 62% reduction according to analysts9.
The rail link connecting China to Spain is one of several rail connections between China and Europe.
Another route runs between Chongqing and the German trading hub of Duisburg five times a week.
There is also a rail link between Beijing and Germany's second largest city, Hamburg, which has cut down transportation times to just 20 days.
China is the European Union's biggest source for imports, and is China's largest trading partner.
The Chinese government plans to invest billions of dollars more in the future through the Asian Infrastructure10 Investment Bank to create more infrastructure projects through Central Asia.
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1
dubbed
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v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 );把…称为;配音;复制 | |
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2
paraphernalia
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n.装备;随身用品 | |
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3
laden
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adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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4
cargo
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n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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5
incompatible
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adj.不相容的,不协调的,不相配的 | |
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6
gauges
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n.规格( gauge的名词复数 );厚度;宽度;标准尺寸v.(用仪器)测量( gauge的第三人称单数 );估计;计量;划分 | |
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7
gulf
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n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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8
shipping
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n.船运(发货,运输,乘船) | |
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9
analysts
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分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 ) | |
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10
infrastructure
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n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施 | |
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