Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao officially launched the “Dongguan-Liege” route between China and Europe on Monday, which will reach Liege in Belgium in as little as two weeks, increasing the transportation efficiency by 10 days, in order to ensure the efficiency of multiple cross-border logistics during the cross-border shopping season such as Black Friday, it was reported.
The route runs through six provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang, and six overseas countries including Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and Belgium, ending in Liege, Belgium, covering a total distance of more than 10,000 kilometers. After arriving at Cainiao’s distribution centre at eHub in Liege, its European digital logistics hub, the packages will be shipped to more than 20 European countries via Cainiao’s efficient end-distribution network.
Cainiao, which was founded in 2013, processes packages at a certain point in the logistics before moving on to another private delivery or logistics company, such as fedex or UPS. Cainiao has built a network of warehouses, distribution centers, hubs and integrated logistics centers, and Cainiao has its own software and automation systems. All this has made it one of the largest transportation companies in China, with Cainiao currently involved in the delivery of 4.5 million cross-border and international packages on average every day, according to Quartz.
As the peak cross-border shopping season arrives, a large number of domestic cosmetics, mobile phones, electric blankets, batteries, resistance panels and solar panels will be delivered to European consumers via the Cainiao China-Europe Highway, it said. Compared with sea transport and air transport, road transport covers a wider range of categories and has relatively fewer restrictions. It can support the transport of special categories such as pure electricity, powder and liquid. Europe’s road is more stable than sea and rail, usually about 10 days faster, and the cost is lower than air freight.
At the same time, the whole transportation process of the line is protected by the “Big Dipper tracking system”. Each cross-border package has its own “satellite”, and merchants can track the current location, traveling track and stay time of the package in real-time visualization in the background of the system. In addition, it also supports small and medium-sized businesses bulk container consolidation, and according to the actual situation, can provide highway and railway transport mode conversion services at the port, to ensure smooth cargo transport.
Other Chinese logistics players, including JD Logistics, JD.com’s delivery arm, and SF Express, a global delivery company, are also trying to expand their market share. On the other hand, on December 6, 2021, China Logistics Group Co., Ltd. was established through integration, aiming to build it into a “global supply chain organizer”.