Russian goods seizures cause havoc on China-Europe rail link: ‘big impact’

Last week, China’s leaders made promises to support the China-Europe Railway Express – an overland freight link that has become a symbol of Beijing’s ambitious drive to recreate the ancient Silk Road.

But the reality is that traffic along the intercontinental rail link has been declining for months, as a wave of Russian goods seizures causes logistics companies to lose confidence in the project, industry insiders said.

“We have not dared to ship [goods via the railway] since November,” said Andrew Jiang, general manager of freight forwarding company Air Sea Transport in Shanghai.

In October, Moscow banned a series of goods from being transited through Russia, with a focus on dual-use items such as mechanical and electronic products that could potentially be used by Western forces in Ukraine.

Many China-based freight companies only heard about the rule change weeks later – by which time Russian authorities had already impounded large amounts of their cargo.