Liaoning Port Group has opened 14 container routes connecting Dalian port with Southeast Asia, as it continues to work on moving cargoes from the northern Chinese hinterland.
The latest addition, the North China Express 2 (NCX2), a joint service between intra-Asia carrier TS Lines and CMA CGM subsidiary Cheng Lie Navigation (CNCLine), commenced on 24 March 2020, will help enterprises in the northern Chinese hinterland to integrate into the “Belt and Road” initiative, by expanding logistics channels.
An official at Liaoning Port Group told Container News, “For this route, exports such as grains, chemicals, steel, fertilisers, machinery and heavy equipment, are being moved. On the reverse leg, we’re importing fruits, coffee and rubber.
“Since the Belt and Road initiative was proposed, China’s trade with partner countries, such as ASEAN, has become increasingly prosperous. In the first two months of this year, ASEAN surpassed the EU, the US and Japan, to become China ’s largest trading partner.”
Accordingly, there was more demand to ship containers between Dalian and Southeast Asia. Dalian’s annual container throughput is now around 10million TEU, up nearly 20% from a decade ago.
Closer to home, Liaoning Port Group has opened domestic container routes that call at Dalian, the busiest port in Liaoning province, and other provincial cities.
On 4 March, a service between Dalian and Quanzhou in Fujian province was launched, with Fujian Zhonghang Shipping deploying one 2,086TEU vessel, Jin Shun He. The point-to-point route was planned as part of Liaoning Port Group’s so-called “Green Channel” initiative to facilitate transportation of medical supplies amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In February, Liaoning Port Group launched a service connecting Panjin’s chemical industry in Liaoning, with Binzhou in Shandong province. Around the same time, services connecting Yingkou, a coastal city in Liaoning, with Xiamen in Fujian province, and Zhuhai in Guangdong province, were launched.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
