Poland urgently announces border reopening on the day of containership departure after China opens new route
On September 23rd, local time, Polish Prime Minister Tusk said that he would reopen the border crossing with Belarus in the early morning of the 25th. But at the same time, he also stressed that if necessary, the Polish government will close the border crossings again.
It is worth mentioning that Poland previously announced on 12 December the closure of the border ports with Belarus due to the joint military exercises of Russia and Belarus, on "safe" grounds, resulting in the blockade of China-European passenger freight.
Although the military exercise has ended, Poland still hinders the recovery of logistics channels on the grounds of security, announcing that border ports (including roads and railways) will remain closed indefinitely until "the safety of Polish citizens is fully guaranteed".
According to the estimation of the European Railway Freight Association, at present, 85 to 90% of China-Europe trains need to enter the EU via Poland, which means that about 300 trains loaded with electronic products, auto parts, solar photovoltaic components and other goods are stranded in Belarus, and the comprehensive cost of the supply chain has increased by more than 15%.
This border blockade not only puts tremendous pressure on the EU's internal supply chain, but also exposes the complicated game between major powers behind it.
As an important ally of the United States in Europe, Poland's move appears to be in line with the U.S. strategy of trying to put pressure on China through the China-Europe freight train, a key logistics lifeline, to urge Russia to change its actions.
However, this tough stance did not work as expected, and instead caused differences within the EU.
Major economies such as Germany and France are heavily dependent on the trade of goods brought by China-Europe freight trains. The report of the European Union Supply Chain Monitoring Center pointed out that this disruption may lead to the freezing of some land channels with a trade volume of up to 25 billion euros between China and Europe. E-commerce giants such as Temu and Shein face delays and high diversion costs.
In the face of the Polish blockade, China quickly responded.
Just days after the Polish border blockade, China and Russia joined forces to announce the development of the Arctic navigation route as an alternative route and launched the trial of the "Central European Arctic Express".
The new route from Ningbo Mountains port, bypassing the Polish blockade, is expected to significantly reduce transport time and cost. The Arctic route is known as the "Ice Silk Road" and its strategic value cannot be overlooked. Compared to the traditional Suez Canal route, the Arctic route has shortened its length by more than 50%, reducing the transport time from 40 days to 18 days, and significantly reducing logistics costs.
At the same time, this route also avoids the current geopolitically tense Persian Gulf region, effectively avoids the threat of piracy, and has higher security.
And Belarus President Lukashenko, when he met with senior Chinese officials on September 20, predicted that “a big country like China can easily tackle this problem.”
It turns out that his predictions are gradually fulfilling.
According to reports, at four and a half in the morning on September 23rd, local time, the lights of the port of Ningbo Zhuang mountain port in the East Sea beach were clear, and Hajj shipping "Istanbul Bridge" was assisted by the trailers to descend from the northern station of the 7th division, opening the route across the Arctic northeastern route.
In the early morning, the "Istanbul Bridge" ship set off
It is worth mentioning that the blockade of Poland has also had a negative impact on its own economy.
It is estimated that if China-Europe trains are suspended all the time, Poland may reduce transit fees and service revenue by hundreds of millions of euros every year.
In addition, Poland's tough attitude has also exacerbated differences within the EU, and economies such as Germany and France are likely to become increasingly dissatisfied, believing that this not only harms the overall interests of the EU, but may also drag down the economic recovery.
Therefore, when the news of the departure of the Chinese container ship reached Poland, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that he would reopen the border ports with Belarus on the morning of 25.
But it also saved face for itself, saying the government would close the border crossings again if necessary
It is easy to see from this incident that Poland attempted to put pressure on China by closing the border, but this operation not only failed to its political goals, but instead promoted the process of China-Russia cooperation in developing the Arctic navigation route.
In the future, as global climate change leads to a decrease in the Arctic ice sheet, the commercialization potential of the Arctic waterway will be further unleashed, potentially becoming an important trade channel connecting Asia and Europe.