By Xinyi Li, EDITOR

China Railway Express (Chongqing-Europe) completed a huge success in the first larger-scale post-delivery import test. It realized “breakthrough of zero” in national imported mail by China Railway Express. After customs inspection, distribution and handling and other procedures on this parcel from Germany, it will do post-delivery timely.

Opening of Import Postal Route Brings a New Transportation Mode for International Mails

Most of post from Germany to Chongqing used to transit shipment in Belgium before directly delivered to Chongqing. The success in this import post-delivery test symbolizes another major breakthrough in post-delivery of China Railway Express. Moreover, it will lay a sound foundation for promoting testing and normal operation of import mails by China Railway Express and enhancing mutual connection.

In January 2016, State Post Bureau of the PRC established a trans-department working mechanism of China Railway Express mail (express) delivery. It achieved the coordination with post, railway, customs and other departments. Meanwhile, in September 2018, China jointly signed a letter of intent on jointly promoting post-delivery by railways under the framework of “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) with Universal Postal Union (UPU). UPU Postal Operations Council established the working team of railway post-delivery with approval of UPU meeting proposal in March 2017. As a host state, China took the lead and carried out the work on jointly studying international railway post-delivery regulations and standards with World Customs Organization (WCO), related international railway organizations and countries along the China Railway Express.

By far, China Post Group has successfully held three working team meetings. During the meetings, it has organized and formulated promotion plans and relevant test schemes of railway post-delivery projects. In the meantime, railway post-delivery Work Guideline with guiding significance in international organization dimension. Through these efforts, WCO, international railway organizations and customs, railway and post of related countries have been closely connected, actively promoting the implementation of railway post-delivery work.

Deutsche Post: China Railway Express (Chongqing-Europe) Benefits Enterprises

Thomas Baldry is the Senior Vice President of Deutsche Post DHL Group. According to him, the construction of BRI is a feasible transportation route between China and Europe. Deutsche Post has confidence in its development potential. Except general freight transport and container transportation between China and Europe, railway post is also full of vigor and is another new mode of transportation. Railway transportation is more convenient than sea transportation, as well as cheaper and more environment friendly than air transportation. “China Railway Express can activate Chinese and German cross border e-commerce transaction. Medium-, small- and micro-sized enterprises can also export e-commerce products through this postal transportation channel,” Baldry mentioned.

“The construction of BRI will undoubtedly realize positive transformation of trade between Asia and Europe. Logistics and transportation network along the route has already connected Asia to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It covers over 65 countries and accounting for one third of global GDP,” stated Thomas Kowitzki, Head of China Rail, Multi-modal Europe, Deutsche Post, DHL Group.

790,000 Small Postal Parcels Have Been Delivered through Railways.

China Railway Express represents the most transparent cooperation carried out by focusing on BRI between China and Europe. At present, with continuous promotion of China Railway Express post-delivery work, it is gradually in transition from test stage to export normal operating stage, with coordination and promotion by government enterprises. Since October 2017, China Post Group delivered a total of 48 postal parcel containers through China Railway Express (Chongqing-Europe), and a total of 790,000 small parcels, with total weight of about 240 tons and value of about USD 11.5 million.

According to relevant principal of China Post Group, it is necessary to provide cross border e-commerce enterprises with international consignment services by making good use of international railway post-delivery channels. At the same time, "storage+dispatching+value-added services+information" technology will be the core. Therefore, it will provide clients with the whole set of cross border e-commerce integrated logistics services. Moreover, it fully creates a complete logistics service system and continuously enhance its competitiveness in international logistics field.

 Smart Supervision Facilitates the Development of China Railway Express Post-Delivery

“The success in return trip post-delivery test further improves smart supervision level of customs logistics,” Dai Wenli, Deputy Director General of Supervision Control and Clearance Department of Chongqing Customs.

During this import mail test, the safe smart lock is the carrier of customs supervision. Start shipment information, computer inspection images, inspection results and other data of goods are input into the safe smart lock. After the tested containers arriving Tuanjie Village, Chongqing, customs officers can check the inspection results through hand-held reading machine instead of implementing the intrusive-mode inspection, which largely improves clearance efficiency, saves corporate clearance costs, and enhances a sense of gain of enterprises.

According to statistics, from January to October 2018, Chongqing Customs has supervised a total of 241,000 export railway parcels through China Railway Express (Chongqing-Europe) and 21 postal parcel containers, with total value of USD 3.56 million.

Accelerate Normalization of Both way Post-Delivery 

Relevant principal of Port and Logistics Office of the People’s Government of Chongqing states that, China Railway Express (Chongqing-Europe) is the Express with the earliest running time, the highest frequency in running and the strongest driving capability in western China, and ranks top concerning the quantity and quality of freight in China.

Since its opening in 2011, it has operated an accumulative total of 2,779 runs, and becomes the first China Railway Express with over 2,000 runs in China; it has transported a total of more than 160,000 TEUs of goods, with value of over USD 20 billion, and its total import and export value has accounted for 35% of all China Railway Expresses in China.

For how to further facilitate China Railway Express post-delivery to provide better services for the construction of BRI, State Post Bureau of the PRC will grasp the great opportunity of developing cross border e-commerce and constructing State Post Bureau of the PRC, give full play to industrial advantages, deeply integrate into the construction of BRI, focus on building a high-level opening and cooperation platform for the post industry, and further strengthen the force in China Railway Express post-delivery work, so as to realize normal and large-scale operation of bothway post-delivery of China Railway Expresses as soon as possible, and facilitate better development of Chinese cross border e-commerce.

Source: CQNEWS