Daily Times

BEIJING: The Port of Tianjin, close to Beijing, has turned into a major trade link of China with Pakistan. Port of Tianjin’s sixth shipping route for foreign container vessels – which is its third serving China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative – was put into operation this month. The new line from China to the Persian Gulf was jointly launched by the five shipment giants: ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd, TS Lines, Korea Marine Transport Co, Ltd, Regional Container Lines and SM Line. It starts from Tianjin Port and runs to the Persian Gulf region by way of some major ports such as Colombo in Sri Lanka, Karachi in Pakistan, and Jebel Ali in Dubai.

Six 6500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) container ships will be in operation on the route. Port of Tianjin is an important land-ocean intersection for the countries and regions involved in the OBOR Initiative. The establishment of the new route will accelerate Tianjin’s becoming an international shipping centre in North China. Tianjin Port Group, which is in charge of the construction and operation of Port of Tianjin, currently has more than 120 shipping routes for container vessels extending to major domestic ports around the world. The company has also taken up opportunities brought by some major initiatives of China, the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Xiong’an New Area and the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone to develop its logistics network in China in support of its international businesses. To date, it has built 25 land ports in inland areas and several marketing centres in nine major regions in North China and launched more than 10 seaway-railway lines.

Published in Daily Times, November 25^th 2017.