C.H. Robinson eyes BRI to expand China business
US-based C.H. Robinson, a leading third-party logistics provider, seeks to expand its China business to ride on the demand created by the Belt and Road Initiative.
The company has just launched a trans-Eurasian rail service connecting nine terminals in China with eight cities in Europe under the BRI. Its trucks also transport goods from other Chinese cities to the nearest rail terminals such as Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, Chengdu in Sichuan Province and Chongqing, and onward to Europe, John Chen, vice president of Asia global forwarding, said in an interview on Thursday.
"The market demand of the Belt and Road is very strong, but it has been unable to support development because of the imperfect logistics network," said Chen.
John Chen, C.H. Robinson's vice president of Asia global forwarding
His company aims to help build a complete logistics network and solve local logistics problems, he added.
The BRI has opened up opportunities for cross-border shipments by rail and trucks, according to the logistics giant. The railway and truck services feature faster transit time than sea, at twice the speed, and incur lower cost than air shipments.
After having covered all major cities in China, C.H. Robinson aims to cover more second and third tier cities by providing railway and trucking services, the company said.
The logistics giant is also eying the booming cross-border e-commerce market in China. It now transports products sold by Chinese sellers to to overseas buyers in the US but it aims to tap the increasing import business from US to China, said Chen.
