Since the outbreak of the epidemic, due to multiple negative effects such as the epidemic, economic environment fluctuations, and uneven production capacity, global ocean freight rates have continued to soar. Sea freight between China and the United States has soared by 5 times, and sea freight between China and Europe has soared by 10 times.

Sea freight rates have risen, and shipping companies have made a lot of money; however, global logistics has suffered a serious blow: suppliers and purchasers have complained, and rising freight costs have raised the price of all international transactions. International trade, international logistics and even international engineering industries have Was severely affected. The high logistics costs have hindered internationalization to a certain extent and affected the normal economic exchanges of mankind. Moreover, given that the epidemic has not improved, it is expected that such obstacles will continue for a long time.

The exchanges between the two major economies of China and Europe can be directly connected via Central Asia and Russia. For this distance, it takes 10-15 days for trains and 11-15 days for trucks, which is much faster than 30-50 days by sea. In the case that ocean freight cannot be reduced in a short period of time, Eurasian countries have begun to consider increasing land transportation capacity.

Increasing land transportation capacity means developing railways and highways. At present, the China-Europe Express is busy running along three international railway lines, and there is not yet a smooth highway that can pass through China and the West. The capacity on the road only played a half role.

Meridian approved

Recently, the Eurasian Development Bank announced that it will provide funding for Russia’s widely-watched Meridian Expressway project. Established in 2006, the Eurasian Development Bank has the temperament of the former Soviet Union. Its members include Russia, Kazakhstan and several countries in Central Asia, mainly Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, etc. Central Asia and Europe Several CIS countries provide financial support for development.

The Meridian Highway is a highway planned by Russia. It starts from the Russia-Kazakhstan border, passes through eight Russian states, and ends at the Russian-Belarusian border. The length is 2,000 kilometers.

The Meridian Highway is Russia’s first privately-invested highway, with a project cost of nearly 600 billion rubles (approximately US$9.4 billion). The Russian holding company holds 80% of the shares of the road and is responsible for the design and engineering. The project was approved in July 2019. It was originally planned to start construction at the end of 2020, but the project was postponed due to the epidemic. With the financing of the Eurasian Development Bank in place, the road is about to break ground.

The reason why the Meridian Highway has received widespread attention is that the two ends of it are connected to the highways of China and Western Europe. Once completed, a major land artery in Eurasia, the "Shuangxi Highway" connecting China and Western Europe will be completely connected!

Shuangxi Highway, the full name is Western Europe-Western China International Highway, and its official name is "Western Europe-Russia-Kazakhstan-Western China" International Road Transport Corridor. It starts from Lianyungang in China in the east, passes through the major cities of Xi'an, Lanzhou, and Urumqi in western China, and ends in St. Petersburg, Russia in the west. It is connected to the European road network and passes through dozens of cities in China, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

The total length of the highway is 8,445 kilometers, of which 2,233 kilometers are in Russia, 3,425 kilometers in China, and 2,787 kilometers in Kazakhstan. The three countries each undertake the construction of some sections of roads. In fact, the Shuangxi Highway extends through the developed road network at both ends (Yangtze River Delta and Western Europe), and finally connects Shanghai and Hamburg, Germany.

At present, the Chinese section and the Kazakh section of the Shuangxi Highway have been basically completed and put into use, while the Russian side has been intermittently unable to advance due to various reasons. If construction starts smoothly after this financing, it is expected that it will be completed and put into operation in about 4 years at the earliest, linking the major artery of Asia and Europe. Keywords: One Belt One Road, One Belt One Road News, One Belt One Road Project, Overseas Projects

After thorough completion, it will become the most important freight transportation trunk line in Central Asia, connecting the vast areas of the Eurasian continent, reducing the freight time from China to Europe from 40 days by sea to 10 days by land. There is a smooth freight channel and a major artery for blood circulation between the two powerful economies of China and Western Europe.Editor/XuNing