On the afternoon of September 22, the "Istanbul Bridge" will complete the container loading operation of more than 1,000 standard boxes at the northern station of the 7th division of Ningbo Jiao mountain port, and will take off through the Arctic route to the UK's largest container port Flixstone port, which marks the official opening of the world's first Central European Arctic container fast-track route (abbreviated "Central European Arctic Express").

According to the reporter of the "Global Times", the route to the northeastern Arctic route, through the White Lang Strait, a single trip of about 18 days, will refresh Ningbo's shipping timetable to Europe. received the "Global Times" interview of several people said that the Arctic route has both economic benefits and strategic significance, the Arctic route navigation can effectively reduce the risk of being blocked or restricted, can also promote the development of trade pattern diversification, enhance the resilience of the global trade system to cope with risk.

It is understood that the China-Europe Arctic Express route connects major domestic ports such as Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao and Dalian in series on one hand, and connects Flixto Port in England, Rotterdam Port in the Netherlands, Hamburg Port in Germany and Gdansk Port in Poland on the other. It is the fastest container route between China and mainstream basic ports in Europe. By crossing the Arctic Ocean, it greatly shortens the voyage and transportation time, and provides more opportunities for domestic enterprises to accurately connect with the stocking peak of the European Christmas season.

Zhou Xiaoping, deputy chief customs officer of Ningbo Customs, told the Global Times on the 22nd that there are many categories of goods loaded on the ship, both everyday goods, clothes, parts and other products, as well as energy storage cabinets, power batteries and other "three new" products, which will be shipped to Europe after arrival. According to Ningbo Customs statistics, the EU is currently the largest trading partner of Ningbo Port, in the first 8 months of this year, Ningbo Port's total import and export value to the EU reached 3307.4 billion yuan, up from 12%, accounting for the total import and export share of Yongbo Port's 18%.

Li Xiaobin, chief operating officer of Haijie Shipping (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., said in an interview that compared with traditional routes, the China-Europe Arctic Express route has a shorter voyage, high transportation efficiency, cost reduction and efficiency increase in the logistics supply chain, and a relatively safe geographical environment of the route. "The political and economic situation in the region where the route passes is relatively stable, which reduces hidden dangers such as piracy, congestion and war risks, improves the safety factor of shipping companies' fleets, opens up the ice Silk Road, and ensures the safety of the third channel of the China-Europe supply chain." Li Xiaobin said.

As the owner of the cargo, Zhou Chujing, logistics purchasing manager of Sige New Energy Co., Ltd., said that what she exported this time was household energy storage equipment, with a value of about 300,000 US dollars per container, which will be sold to all parts of Europe through the Netherlands. "The main reason for choosing the Arctic route is the short voyage and fast timeliness, which is of great help to the entire marketing link."

Media public reports showed that in 2018, China's Arctic Policy White Paper released, clearly pointed out that China is willing to rely on the development and utilization of the Arctic navigation route, and jointly build the "Ice on Silk Road" with all parties.

Jan Yuan Ba, director of the China-Europe Research Center and deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai European Society, told the Global Times on the 22nd that China-European Arctic Express flight on the one hand reduced the link of land-based European flight shifts, reduced the time of train stops, and helped to improve economic efficiency. On the other hand, shipping from the open sea avoided the inconvenience caused by some geopolitical conflicts in European countries.

In the same time, the Arctic Express as the world's first between China and Europe Arctic container fast flight route, has accumulated valuable experience in the field of new route development. it is China's important public product to the international community, in the future, Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries can also participate together, with China to cooperate in the development of China's "Ice Silk Road" aimed at jointly building international route, welcome Japan and Korea and other countries goods through this passage, all parties jointly safeguard regional stability, benefit many parties. "

"This route greatly shortens the transportation cycle, and is very attractive to timely goods and cross-border e-commerce. Moreover, the navigation environment of the Arctic route is relatively stable, and the possibility of being disturbed by emergencies is lower. It can effectively reduce the risk of being blocked or restricted, and ensure transportation autonomy and safety. In the long run, it can also promote the diversified development of China's trade pattern and enhance the resilience of the global trading system to cope with risks." Sun Xuejun, Party Secretary and Chairman of Zhejiang Harbour Logistics Group Co., Ltd.

Sun Xuejun said that the launch of the "China-Europe Arctic Express" from Ningbo Zhoushan Port to Flixto Port also marked the official completion of the "last piece of the puzzle" of Ningbo Zhoushan Port on the global route network. From the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean to Arctic Ocean, Ningbo Zhoushan Port fully connects the world's major navigable oceans, and its status as a hub port will be further consolidated.