Full Steam Ahead on the China-Europe Express Route

Wherever you are right now, there is a high probability something around you was imported from China. You might be using some electronics, in a shopping mall, or driving your car (hopefully not whilst reading this) but no matter what, there is a very big chance you are close to something made from there. This isn’t a new phenomenon of course. China is the number one exporting country in the world, exporting more than $2,157,000 million worth of goods in 2017 alone. Yet how these goods are being transported to European shopping malls, supermarkets and homes, is new. Last month, the China-Europe Express, sometimes referred to as the China-Europe Freight Train, reached a significant milestone, when it clocked its 10,000th journey from Wuhan, in central China, to Europe. Previously, goods from China had always arrived into Europe in the back of a freight plane or stowed in the bow of a ship. The reason for this was simple, air freight was significantly quicker than train and ship freight was a lot cheaper. Yet now, more and more trade between China and Europe is being done along the Belt and Road (B&R) using freight trains, which is reducing costs and increasing delivery speed. From Yilin to London, Xi’an to Hamburg Since 2013 B&R has been connecting China with the rest of […]

Sep 26, 2018

Alibaba’s 18th Birthday: Is Jack Ma an Idealist or a Braggart?

On Sept. 8, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group celebrated its 18th anniversary in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province.
Around 40,000 Alibaba employees from dozens of countries and regions attended the party. Employees and executives enjoyed the event together. Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba, even performed a classic Michael Jackson dance together with some of the other business partners.

Sep 15, 2017

Why Alibaba Is Not Singles Day’s Biggest Winner?

Now the entire world has not only gotten to know a particular shopping spree in China — Singles Day–but has also witnessed the Chinese consumption fever as a result of the world’s biggest online shopping extravaganza. On the particular day, Alibaba, the e-commerce giant, outshines all other online retail sites. According to the BBC, by the close of the November 11’s sales, Alibaba had seen sales worth 91.2 billion yuan ($14.3bn), a 60% increase from last year. It has broken its own record for sales on China’s Singles Day, around $11 billion on that of 2014. Moreover, the idea of Singles Day shopping has cashed in on foreign buyers. According to Adobe, Singles Day spending in the U.S. is expected to hit $1.4 billion this year, which would represent a 14 percent increase from 2014. To facilitate online transnational transaction in Singles Day, China’s logistic giant SF-Express has established cooperation with such international e-commerce retailers as eBay, iHerb and Vitacost. Having triumphed in all these areas, one may assume that Singles Day’s founder, Alibaba, ought to be the biggest winner of the day. Well, not exactly. Despite its tremendous success in the Singles Day online sales, Alibaba’s stock price dropped nearly 2 percent on the same day. Jim Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates, forecast that the Alibaba will continue to […]

Nov 13, 2015