China launches freight train to Germany bypassing Belarus

The first train carrying 50 containers of electronics and goods for cross-border e-commerce has departed from the Xi-An international port station, marking the opening of a new freight route. The train goes to Russia’s St. Petersburg. From there, the containers will be delivered by ship to the German port of Mukran and then reloaded onto a train and sent to its final destination, Mannheim.

The length of the new route is about 12.8 thousand kilometers, and the travel time is 16-18 days. The new route bypasses Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania.

“The transit of container trains between China and Europe via Belarus is one of the main sources of income from transportation for the Belarusian Railways. The reorientation of the routes seriously affects the income of Belarusian Railways,” says a representative of the “Live. Community of Belarusian Railway Workers”.

Already on November 9, the Polish side closed the border crossing point in Kuznica amid attempts of the official Minsk to break the border with Poland with the help of migrants.

At the same time, Warsaw has warned that it may not be only about Kuznica. Polish authorities are considering completely closing the border with Belarus due to the migration crisis. Not only road checkpoints but also railway checkpoints will be affected.

Minsk has made reciprocal threats.

“Poland frightens us that it will close the border. Please, close it: fewer fugitives will move there. This is not the issue. I have just listened to these scumbags, who are dumb. What if we close the transit through Belarus? It won’t go through Ukraine: the Russian border is closed there. There are no roads through the Baltics. If we close it for Poles and, for example, for Germans: what will happen then? We must not stop at anything, defending our sovereignty and independence,” said Lukashenka on November 11.

“They are thinking about closing the border with Belarus. Please, do. If there’s nothing else to do, we do not mind,” he repeated on November 16.