OREANDA-NEWS. DHL Global Forwarding is further expanding its pioneering multimodal services in China with a new twice-weekly service between Zhengzhou and Hamburg via Poland. The new 17-day service will offer customers the flexibility of DHL Railconnect, the less-than-container load (LCL) service, as well as a full-container option, DHL Railline. DHL now offers three regular multimodal rail services between China and Europe from Zhengzhou, Suzhou and Chengdu which span across central, eastern and western China. The three strategic Chinese cities rank within China's top 10 provinces in GDP last year, amounting to CNY 12.9 million1 (EUR1.85 million).

DHL's multimodal rail solution offers customers delivery time reductions of between 10 and 21 days compared to sea freight, depending on origin and destination pairs. In addition, customers seeking environmentally friendly solutions can also expect a fall of CO2 emissions of up to 90% compared to airfreight.

"With China's 'One Belt, One Road' strategy focusing on enhancing connections between Asia and Europe and promoting international trade, DHL is extending its lead in the China-Europe rail freight market by developing additional routes," said Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. "Our multimodal network covers a wide geographical area between Asia and Europe, offering seamless connections with solutions that ensure complete supply chain visibility and a faster-to-market option for our customers."

True door-to-door service

In addition to the westbound Zhengzhou-Hamburg service, the eastbound Hamburg-Zhengzhou service will also be available to customers moving cargo from Europe to Asia. A true door-to-door service, DHL's multimodal solutions connect China to Europe by picking up goods from any location in China for delivery to Europe - and vice-versa.

Steve Huang, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding China said: "Zhengzhou, Suzhou and Chengdu are key economic centers of trade and development in China. Their strategic locations with close proximity to main Chinese cities of economic importance such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Dalian and Shenzhen are integral to a successful multimodal network spanning China to Europe. Offering multiple loading points across China has created business opportunities for customers in many industries and we are investing to expand our network to further increase these opportunities."

Zhengzhou, a hub for finance, commerce and resource distribution in central China, is fast becoming one of the largest economic centers in China with its increasing international and domestic investment. Suzhou, one of China's foremost cities for foreign investment due to its proximity to Shanghai and lower operating costs, has always enjoyed a strong economy based primarily on its large manufacturing sector. Chengdu is the country's western center of logistics, commerce, finance, science and technology, as well as a hub for transportation and communication. It is also an important base for manufacturing and agriculture. Together, the provincial GDP of the three cities make up 20% of China's GDP last year.

The new Zhengzhou-Hamburg service complements DHL Global Forwarding's established multimodal network. The first is a weekly scheduled block train service along the trans-Kazakh West Corridor rail service that originates from Chengdu, a hub for high tech goods, automotive and other industries, and the main distribution center for Western China, to Lodz in Poland. The second - also weekly - via the trans-Siberian North Corridor serves the manufacturing and commercial centers of Shanghai, Suzhou and surrounding areas and runs from Suzhou to Warsaw.  

In 2014, DHL pioneered the first temperature-controlled China-Europe rail service, providing customers with temperature-sensitive products year-round access to this cost-effective shipping route regardless of the weather. DHL also launched a sea connection last year that links Japan into the network which provides more customers in North Asia an additional alternative to sea and airfreight, and access to benefits such as reduced transit times, costs and CO2 emissions.