New weekly less-than-container load (LCL) service between Duisburg and Chengdu further strengthens DHL's Belt and Road coverage

Door-to-door lead time of up to 29 days provides a fast, reliable and flexible solution for smaller shipments

CHENGDU, CHINA -- 28 September 2018 - DHL Global Forwarding, the leading international provider of air, sea and road freight services, recently launched its new weekly less-than-container load (LCL) rail service between Duisburg, Germany and Chengdu, the latest addition to its extensive Asia-Europe-Asia multimodal network.

The new LCL service has a door-to-door lead time of up to 29 days, tracing the Belt and Road's Silk Road Economic Belt and catering to rising demand from high-growth sectors including the automotive, manufacturing, and chemical sectors -- many of which are based in Chengdu's industrial parks like the Chengdu Science City, Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and more.[1]

"With Sino-German business and economic ties poised to grow stronger, the new LCL service will fill an important gap in what has long been standard for air, sea, and road transport," said Steve Huang, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Greater China. "The fixed schedule service will not only provide a more frequent and consistent shipping route, but one that is agile enough to cater to businesses of all sizes; and adapt to commercial needs based on ongoing economic changes throughout Asia and Europe."

The service supports smaller shipments between Europe and China, addressing the growing trend towards ad hoc shipments and lower-volume, just-in-time orders supporting Chinese manufacturing and production. 

Businesses are expected to tap on the service to ship everything from spare parts, high-tech components, and raw materials up to finished goods: in 2016, China imported nearly $8.5bn in vehicle parts and more than $1.2bn worth of integrated circuits from Germany alone. [2]

"Since 2008, DHL Global Forwarding has been investing in infrastructure and expanding our network offerings to help make the Belt and Road's vision of seamless freight connectivity a reality," said Huang. "This latest service will expand our product portfolio to suit all shipment sizes with planned departure schedules for East-bound and West-bound directions. With the recent US$23.6 billion deal signed in July to strengthen trade between Germany and China,[3] our new service will connect people and businesses securely and reliably, bringing a new degree of flexibility that our customers in both regions will enjoy."

As the pioneer in innovative multimodal solutions from China to Europe, DHL has been offering this suite of innovative and flexible solutions since 2010, which connects China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Taiwan to Europe.

North Corridor: Suzhou to Warsaw; connects China's engineering and manufacturing hubs to pan-European demand in 14 days

South Corridor: Lianyungang and Chengdu to Istanbul; traverses three Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia -- as well as two sea transit segments before arriving at Istanbul in 14 days

West Corridor: Chengdu to Lodz, and Zhengzhou to Hamburg; supporting high-tech, automotive, and retail manufacturers located in China with fast, and cost-effective access into Europe

Sea transit: connecting Japan, Korea and Taiwan to China via ferry services, for onward journey to Europe; as well as Shanghai to Europe via Piraeus, Greece

Road connection: linking manufacturing base in Vietnam to Europe via China

DHL -- The logistics company for the world. (mor/*)