China launches new 'silk road'

[Said1]

Sign my up'a, I want to drive the turck!

China launches new 'silk road' to boost trade with Europe
09.27.2005, 04:15 AM

BEIJING (AFX) - A caravan of trucks is scheduled to set off from Beijing today bound for Brussels as part of a pilot project to reestablish a new 'silk road' to boost trade between China and Europe, state media said.

The expedition is part of China's efforts to promote barrier-free road transport between China and Europe and rekindle the spirit of the ancient Silk Road, the China Daily said.

The pilot shipment of goods is expected to reach its final destination on Oct 17, after passing through the cities of Astana, Kazakhstan; Moscow, Russia; Riga, Latvia; Vilnius, Lithuania; Warsaw, Poland and Berlin, Germany.

'The activity aims to demonstrate that the barrier-free intercontinental transport of goods by road is workable,' Yao Mingde, president of the Chinese Road Transport Association, was quoted saying.

Trade between the 25-nation Europe Union and China is booming, with the EU being China's largest trade partner and China being the EU's second largest.

Most products are transported by ships.

While rapid growth in bilateral trade has increased the demand for road transport, barriers still exist.

To achieve trans-continental road transport, sound infrastructure including a good network of roads is required, as well as a mutually acceptable legal framework by countries along the route.

The project was initiated by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Link

 

[USViking]

I am confused about the economics
of the freight transportation business.

I would think it would be cheaper to
transport freight by rail in the long-haul,
and leave it to the trucks to do the
shorter haul from a central drop-off point.

I admit to speaking form ignorance, and I
wonder if anyone could provide details on this subject.

 

[ekrem]

This route is obsolete.




Planned Asian highway to link Istanbul to Tokyo

http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=3647

by Theresa Kim Hwa-young
The plan to build an Asian highway is ratified by nine countries. Another 23 countries are expected to follow suite.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – An agreement to build a highway linking nine Asian countries—South Korea, China, Japan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia and Azerbaijan—took effect yesterday. Bangladesh, the Philippines, Turkmenistan, Singapore and North Korea still have to sign up.

The project was originally launched at a session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asian and Pacific (UNESCAP) held in Shanghai on April 2004, with 27 countries among the total of 32 participating nations informally signed off on the construction of the highway on condition of each government’s ratification.

Upon completion, it should include 32 countries and 55 routes for a total road network of 141,000 kilometres.

Within three months of the ratification by at least eight countries the agreement came into effect. Cambodia was the eighth country to ratify the agreement on April 4, 2005 so that it took effect on July 4.

“The international highway is a milestone in regional cooperation that will enlarge trade and tourism among the countries,’’ a South Korean Construction and Transportation Ministry official said. “It will also contribute to boosting cooperation between the two Koreas,” he added.

In South Korea, the project won’t require building new routes but will need only appropriate highway signs for the Seoul-Pusan and Kankung-Pusan highways.

Participating nations are required to put signposts displaying “Asian Highway” by July 2010.

The agreement covers 19 articles including technical standards for a network of roads, route signage, numbering and design standards and processes.

The highway project has yet to tackle many thorny issues, such as the opening of the heavily fortified border between South and North Korea.

 

[Toro]

China already has one of the best highway systems in the world.

Take note India.

 

[Avatar4321]

And you thought driving through Texas took a while....

 

[ScreamingEagle]

It'd be pretty bad to run out of gas stuck out there in the middle of freezin' nowhere.