期待更多中欧班列入境塞尔维亚

生存于恐惧和勇敢之间

2020年3月11日，世卫组织正式宣布新冠肺炎为“全球大流行病”。新冠肺炎疫情是近现代历史上全球面临的最大挑战之一，对全球公共卫生、政治、经济和社会等领域造成极大的影响。

在新形势下，全球贸易和供应链势必会受到冲击，从而引发以下几个问题：如何保证生产顺利进行？未来会有充足的食物、药品和医疗物资吗？如何安排车辆调度，保证物流顺畅？疫情发生之初，在这一系列问题上，世界各国都处于一个摸着石头过河的状态，各国政府能做到的仅是尽己所能保护公民的生命安全，使日常生活尽早步入正常轨道。

面对交通瓶颈该怎么办？

疫情发生初期的一个关键问题在于如何安排世界各地的货品物流。空运几乎是不可能的，受安全因素影响，许多港口出现了大规模船舶堵塞，剩下的选项只有陆运。而卡车的货物载重量又有一定的限制，铁路运输便成为了更为可行的方案。由于新冠疫情，许多国家意识到了铁路的重要性。尽管铁路也同样受到新冠肺炎疫情冲击，数据显示疫情期间，铁路货运量较之过去基本持平，一些国家甚至更高，究其原因，有空运成本上升、跨境程序影响卡车运送货物所需时间变长、海运空白航次增多等。

疫情凸显中欧班列重要性

2020年4月到5月，在上述因素叠加影响下，中欧班列成为了中欧间一条安全便捷的货物运输通道。疫情期间运输的货物以医疗物资为主，如口罩、防护服、护目镜、医用手套、呼吸机等。中远海运武汉分部副总经理表示，疫情发生之初，从湖北省运送防疫物资到德国仅需十天左右。新华社在同一篇报道中指出，从1月到5月，共有12524吨防疫物资通过铁路从中国运往欧洲国家。5月份，中欧班列开行数量达1033列，同比增长43%，创下了新的历史记录，共运送9.3万集装箱，同比增长48%。欧洲疫情前期，物资紧张，时间紧、任务重，中欧间有一条安全便捷的医疗物资运输通道是十分振奋人心的。

2020全年和2021年第一个月份中欧班列的需求持续上升。2021年4月，一财全球在其网站上发布报告指出，一季度中欧班列的开行数量同比增长75%，达3398列，中欧班列去年开行数量首次突破万列大关。同一篇报告指出，国家发改委发言人孟玮在新闻发布会上表示，自去年5月份起，中欧班列已连续11个月每月开行数量达千列以上。截止到上个月末，中欧班列已运送超过1100万个、重达8.9万吨的防疫物资。

⬆ 2020年6月23日，满载防疫物资的中欧班列抵达法国巴黎东南郊的瓦朗通（新华社记者 徐永春摄）

多措施持续提高中欧班列影响力

从数据上看，未来中欧班列有望在中欧交通网络中发挥更加重要作用。中欧班列运输的货物数量呈上升趋势，越来越多的企业想要使用中欧班列。中国对外贸易运输量的90%是通过海上运输完成的，因此海运仍是未来中国对外贸易的主要运输途径。与空运相比，铁路运输的竞争力在上升，未来中国对外贸易交通运输格局的演变值得关注。

如若中欧班列想要变得更具竞争力的话，需要在以下几个方向发力。一方面，中欧班列上有五种不同规格的铁路轨距，其中有三种是最常用的。尽管列车之间的货箱装卸速度较之过去大有提升，但仍有进步空间。另一方面，铁路跨境需要面临繁琐的行政程序，中欧应通过数字化和精简跨境程序等手段提升铁路跨境效率。

中欧经贸合作及中欧班列的作用

疫情发生前，中国与欧盟各国拥有良好的经济关系。贸易是经济合作的重要领域，中国是欧盟的第二大贸易伙伴，根据欧洲统计局的数据，2019年中欧贸易额约为3500亿欧元。中欧投资合作则逊于贸易，中欧在投资领域保持了多年的良好合作，然而欧盟开始改变对中国投资的态度。2019年3月欧盟委员会通过的外商直接投资审核框架便是最新的例证。欧盟委员会副主席瓦尔季斯·东布罗夫斯基斯表示，向外国投资商开放市场是欧盟一贯的政策，然而处于保护欧盟的资产及维护集体安全的考虑，欧盟需要对外资设置一定的准入门槛。中国的投资，特别是在信息技术领域的投资，不再像以往那样受欧盟欢迎。

新冠疫情使中欧经济关系发生了改变。欧洲统计局数据显示，2020年头十个月，中国一直是欧盟最大的贸易伙伴，前三个季度中欧贸易额同比增长了3.4%，相比之下美欧贸易额同比下降了13%。2020年12月末，中国和欧盟的官员经历了九轮谈判后，基本达成了《中欧全面投资协定》，该协定有望在2021年末正式签署，如果一切顺利的话，协定的签署将标志着中欧朝着正确的方向又前进了一大步。值得注意的是，2021年3月中国通过的国民经济和社会发展第十四个五年规划为外国投资商提供了新机遇，中国将进一步扩大对外企的市场开放，外国投资商将获准进入工业和服务业新领域进行投资。上述政策变动都有利于改善中欧经贸关系，中欧班列也将受惠于此。

2021年3月距离中欧班列首次开行已有十个年头。去年疫情暴露出来了种种挑战进一步证实了铁路运输的重要性，中欧应更善加利用中欧班列。当今世界充满不确定性和不稳定性，铁路运输的优势更加突出。铁路运输相较于空运和海运不受气候条件限制，安全性更高，与空运相比成本更低，与海运相比所需时间更短。更重要的是，铁路运输比空运更环保，其二氧化碳排放量略高于海运。鉴于中欧都表达了打造绿色可持续环境的决心，铁路运输将在中欧关系中发挥更重要的作用。

推进铁路网络现代化 提升国际竞争力

塞尔维亚作为地处巴尔干半岛的一个小国，始终是中国坚定的支持者和朋友，是最早一批加入中国与中东欧“17+1”机制及共建“一带一路”倡议的国家。在两大机制的框架下，塞中开展了多个领域的合作。在经济领域，中国通过贷款、收购和合资等形式在塞尔维亚投资了100多亿欧元，涉及交通、能源、冶金、生产等多个领域。从贝尔格莱德到布达佩斯的匈塞铁路是中塞合作的首批项目之一，其中有两个路段由中国交通建设集团和中铁国际承建，价值高达14.12亿美元。该铁路使贝尔格莱德到布达佩斯的行驶距离从8小时缩减为4小时。由于塞尔维亚铁路网络已有三十多年未经翻修，设施老旧落后，因此匈塞铁路对于塞尔维亚而言意义重大。塞尔维亚拥有贝尔格莱德-尼什、贝尔格莱德-布达佩斯两条现代化铁路，随着铁路网络系统现代化建设的推进，塞尔维亚希望更多的中欧班列线路到达境内，并且加入欧洲高速公路、铁路网络，提升其在国际市场上的竞争力。

编辑 | 张   梅

 翻译 | 齐晓彤

设计 | 大   米

On
11 March 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared the
COVID-19 pandemic. It was something that the public was at the same time
expecting and fearing. This pandemic is without a doubt one of the
biggest problems that the world faced in newer history. The COVID-19 is
not just a health problem; it is also a political, economic and social
problem. 

In
these new circumstances, it was obvious from the beginning that trade
and global supply chains would be disrupted. The questions just piled:
how will we continue the production, will we have enough food, will we
have enough medicines and medical supplies, how we will organize the
transport, etc. There were no immediate answers, and every country in
the world tried its best, to protect the lives of its citizens and to
make every day living as normal as it was possible.

What to do when you face transportation struggles?

One
of the main questions, in the early days of the pandemic, was how to
organize the transportation of goods from all over the world? The air
traffic was almost non-existent. The ship cargoes were blocked in many
ports due to safety reasons. The main alternative was to transport goods
by land as much as possible. Since the trucks have a weight limit
(tonnes) they can carry, the only other transportation alternative was
the railway. It was during these times that many of us realised how
valuable railways are, and how much they are helpful in pandemic times.
Even though the railway sector suffered as others, the results showed
that on the global level during the times of COVID-19, the level of
railway transportation remained the same, and in some countries, it was
higher. The reasons behind that were that the airfreight rates went up,
the truck transport took longer time to deliver goods than before due to
procedures at the borders, and blank sailings occurred more in the
ocean freight. 

The significance of the China-Europe Railway Express during the first year of the pandemic

During
April and May 2020, due to the combined effects of all the
above-mentioned circumstances China–Europe Railway Express (CURE) became
a secure and fast way to transport goods from China to Europe and vice
versa. The main products transported during those times were medical
supplies – masks, protective medical suits, protective glasses, gloves,
respirators etc. Gao Zandong, deputy general manager of COSCO Shipping
Lines, said that during those first days of the pandemic, it took
slightly more than 10 days to transport medical supplies from Hubei
province to Germany.  Xinhua Agency reported in the same article that:
“From January to May, a total of 12.524 tonnes of anti-epidemic
materials were sent from China to European countries by train.” CURE
“has completed a record 1.033 journeys in May, up 43 percent
year-on-year. 93.000 containers were transported, an increase of 48
percent year-on-year.”  When the time limits are as important as they
were, during those first months of the pandemic in Europe, it was
encouraging to know that there is a safe and quick way to receive
medical supplies from China. 

The
trend of using this railway during 2020 and the first’s month of 2021
just continued to soar. Yicai Global published on their website in April
2021 that the CURE number of journeys went up 75% in the first quarter
year on year (3.398). Besides this, last year that number for the first
time in its history exceeded 10.000, and that was a great result. The
same report said that Meng Wei, spokesperson for the National
Development and Reform Commission, stated at the news conference: “The
China-Europe Railway Express has seen over 1.000 train journeys a month
for 11 consecutive months since May last year. The freight service had
delivered more than 11.0 million units and 89.000 tons of COVID-19
pandemic control supplies as of the end of last month.”   

Judging
by this result, we can say that this railway has a unique opportunity
to become an even more valuable part of the transportation network
between China and Europe. The number and the volume of goods transported
through the CURE network are increasing. More and more companies want
to use this network. Shipping cargoes will remain the dominant
transportation model in the near future since 90% of the global shipping
goes this way. On the other hand, railway transportation is becoming
more competitive against airfreight, and it will be interesting to see
if this will change in future. 

Several
things need to be changed on the China-Railway Express Network to
become even more competitive. On the one hand, the problem of different
railway gauges that exist on this route. There are five different ones,
while the three types are the most used ones. Even though the time used
to transport the cargoes from one train to the other is significantly
quicker than before, there is still space for improvement. On the other
hand, the level of administration work that needs to be done for the
trains to pass the national borders. The main thing is to work upon the
digitalization and border procedures to shorten the time required for
trains to cross the borders.

Economic cooperation between China and Europe and the role of China-Europe Railway Express

Before
the pandemic started, China and the countries within the European Union
had good economic relations. Trade was a vital part of cooperation.
China was the EU's second-biggest trade partner. The trade volume in
2019 was around 350 billion euros, according to Eurostat data.
Investments had a different story. After many years of good cooperation
in the investment field, the EU started to change its view about Chinese
investments in its territory. The final restrain in relations became
more evident after the EU Commission adopted in March 2019 the EU
framework for screening foreign direct investments. Valdis Dombrovskis,
the EU official, stated that the EU market was and is open to foreign
investors, still, there needs to be some conditionality regarding
foreign investments to secure EU assets and protect collective
security.  Chinese investments, especially in the IT field, were no
longer so welcome in the EU. 

Economic
relations between China and the EU due to pandemic changed. Data from
Eurostat show that in the first ten month of 2020, China was the biggest
trade partner of the EU, due to the increase in trade in the first
three quarters by 3.4% year-on-year, while between the EU and the USA
fell 13% year-on-year.  In addition, at the end of December 2020, China
and the EU officials, after nine rounds of negotiations, reached in
principle Comprehensive Agreement on Investments (CAI). This agreement
probably will be finalized by the end of 2021, and if everything goes
well, it would be a huge step in the right direction for both parties.
Besides this, it is also encouraging that the latest Chinese 14th
five-year development plan, adopted in March 2021, references new
opportunities for foreign investors in China.  China will allow easier
access for foreign companies to the Chinese market.  It will also permit
new fields of industry and services in which foreigners can invest. All
mentioned things would improve economic relations between China and the
EU. China-Europe Railway Express will benefit from that.

In
March 2021, both parties celebrated the 10th anniversary of the first
train that travelled from China to Europe. Last year with all of its
difficulties, proved how much this railway is necessary and how much it
needs to be utilized properly. Railway freight has many advantages that
are important in today’s insecure world. It is a safer way of
transporting goods than airfreight or sea freight because its
functioning is not so dependable on the weather conditions. It is a
cheaper method of transport than airfreight and takes less time than sea
freight. The most important advantage is that railway freight is more
environment friendly than airfreight, and its emission of CO2 is
slightly higher than ocean freight emission.   Since China and the EU
are both committed to building more sustainable and green environment,
railway transportation will have an important place in theirs
relations.  

The impact of the Belgrade- Budapest railway on Serbian development

Serbia,
a small country in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula, has been a firm
supporter and friend of China and has been from the start member of two
very well-known Chinese initiatives, namely 17+1 and Belt and Road
Initiative. Through them, Serbia cooperated with China in different
ways. In the economic field, China invested through loans, acquisitions
and joint ventures more than 10 billion euros in Serbia. China invested
in various type of projects such as transportation, energy, metallurgy,
production etc. One of the first projects on which China and Serbia
cooperated was the construction of the Belgrade-Budapest Railway. China
Communication Construction Company and China Railway International are
in charge of the two parts of this railway, and the project is worth US$
1.412 billion. By building this railway, Serbia will shorten the
travelling time from Belgrade to Budapest from eight to four hours. It
is an important project for Serbia since Serbian railways have not been
modernized for more than three decades. Besides this, through the
modernization of our network, and by building a modern railway from
Belgrade to Niš, Serbia is hoping to become part of the broader
China-Europe Railway Network. Hopefully, with those projects, Serbia
will join the European highway and railroad network, and become more
competitive on the international market.  

Editor | Zhang Mei

Design | Demi