The first launch of China-Europe Express from Shanghai to Germany

On the morning of September 28, the launch ceremony of the China-Europe Express was held at Minhang Station of Shanghai Railway. Loaded with 50 containers of cargo goods such as an apparel, glassware, auto parts, precision instruments and other things, the first Shanghai Express leaves China via the Alataw Pass in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and will reach Hamburg in 2 weeks,  passing through countries along the "Belt and Road" such as Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and Poland.  After the first train departs, it will continue to run regularly every week.

Zhao Honglin, deputy director of the Shanghai Customs Port Supervision Office, introduced that at present, the China-Europe Express has become an important mode of transportation through the supply chain of China, Europe and Central Asia. Under the current situation of global shipping and air freight being affected by the epidemic and unprecedentedly high prices, the opening of the China-Europe Express train departing from Shanghai is just the right time. It is important for alleviating the current tight international capacity, improving Shanghai's global resource allocation capabilities, and strengthening the opening of the hub portal. 

In mid-August, after receiving the customs supervision task which is responsible for the first launch of the China-Europe train, Shanghai Customs immediately set up a special working group to conduct multi-party investigations and field surveys. The working group connected with relevant competent units in Shanghai and relevant departments of China Railway to straighten out the responsibilities of all parties and discuss issues such as port opening, site selection, and business processes. Shanghai Customs contacted Alataw Pass Customs and jointly improved the supervisory plan for trains to achieve seamless transfer of customs supervision.

Shanghai Customs is affiliated to the station customs and is responsible for the customs clearance, inspection, logistics monitoring and site management of the China-Europe Railway Express. In the past month, the customs has organized and carried out the whole-process testing of declaration, inspection, and release many times. Chai Yan, Deputy Commissioner of the Station Customs, introduced: “We have set up a special window for China-Europe train declarations and special audit posts, and take measures such as appointment inspections to ensure that the goods listed on the class are available for inspection, quick inspection and quick release; monitoring and inspections will further reduce the overall customs clearance time while ensuring the quality of physical goods supervision."

The first "Shanghai" freight-train is expected to return to Shanghai in mid-October as planned, and the train to the 4th China International Import Expo will carry a shipment of exhibits from European countries.

Zhao Honglin said: "In the future, the "Shanghai" Chine-Europe Express will enter into a normal and high-frequency working rhythm. Shanghai Customs will continue to consolidate the supervisory experience of the train, strengthen supervision and optimization services, and make every effort to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the China-Europe train without stopping."