On September 27, a China-Europe freight train loaded with "Xiang"-branded equipment from a major country departed from Changsha and headed for Minsk, Belarus.
Red Net Moment News reporters Wang Yan, Zhu Liping, Zhang Biwen, Chen Aonan, reporting from Changsha and Minsk
History always gives people the power to draw wisdom and move forward in some special years.
In the golden autumn of 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the major initiative of jointly building the “Belt and Road”. Over the past ten years, this initiative has evolved into a global development initiative spanning more than 150 countries, more than 30 international organizations, and covering more than 65% of the world’s land and population. The “Belt and Road” cooperation has achieved from top-level design to project implementation , from the planning plan to the specific practice, from the gorgeous transformation of "freehand brushwork" to "meticulous painting", a happy road that benefits the world is getting wider and wider.
Ten years passed in a blink of an eye, and Hunan became a dream. Under the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, countless ordinary and subtle changes in Sanxiang have brewed over time and evolved into great changes and beauty that drive the times forward.
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, reporters from Red Net Moment followed the China-Europe freight train from Changsha to Minsk, heading west, spanning more than 7,000 kilometers, and lasted more than 20 days, recording touching stories on the Silk Road. . Along the way, those exciting moments, glowing faces, and unforgettable memories have become the best historical evidence of Hunan’s active integration into the “Belt and Road” and its strides to “go global.”
The important weapons of great powers go to the world:
From reliance on imports to localization
The sound of the flute cuts through the tranquility of the sky.
In the early morning of September 27, a China-Europe train named X8426, fully loaded with heavy equipment from a major country with the "Xiang" name, departed from the Changsha International Railway Port and headed for Minsk, the capital of Belarus. This train was carrying truck cranes produced by Zoomlion Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. of the "Hunan Army" engineering machinery.
A truck crane has tens of thousands of parts. For a long time, China relied on imports of its main components for truck cranes. Over the past 10 years, through the joint efforts of upstream and downstream enterprises in the construction machinery industry chain, this situation has now been reversed and localization has been achieved.
On the small and medium-sized tonnage commissioning platform of Zoomlion Quantang Industrial Park in Changsha, staff conduct final tests on cranes sent overseas.
One week before departure, there was a bustling scene in Zoomlion Quantang Industrial Park in Changsha. Staff were on the small and medium-tonnage debugging platform, conducting final tests on the products that were about to be sent overseas.
Tan Tiansheng, Manufacturing Department Manager of Zoomlion Engineering Crane Company, said excitedly: "The goods behind me were sent overseas, including 25-ton and 60-ton truck cranes to Belarus." Today, Zoomlion's business Radiating to many countries and regions such as the Middle East, America, Australia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe, Hunan's construction machinery products are becoming more and more popular in the international market. The construction machinery "Xiang Army" has become a shining star of China's manufacturing industry and even the world's manufacturing industry. business card.
Crossing mountains and rivers, traveling thousands of miles without stopping day and night. China-Europe trains are loaded with products made in Hunan and are singing loudly and riding the wind.
Seven thousand kilometers away, in Minsk, Belarus, the time goes back to 2015. In order to actively respond to the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, Zoomlion Heavy Industry, the "Xiang Army" of engineering machinery, set its sights on this place in the center of Europe with two countries within its borders. A country that spans Europe’s transport corridors. That year, the Belarusian subsidiary of Zoomlion came into being and became one of the first batch of enterprises to enter the China-Belarus Industrial Park.
Zoomlion’s Belarus production base is located in the China-Belarus Industrial Park.
From a wasteland to a factory, Zoomlion's Belarusian subsidiary has now become the largest manufacturing company in the China-Belarus Industrial Park. Crane parts transported by the Hunan China-Europe train are assembled here.
In recent years, the cranes produced by Zoomlion's Belarusian subsidiary have been used in many local large-scale projects such as the Belarusian International Standard Swimming Pool and the Belarusian National Stadium. The "Xiang" brand, a major national heavyweight, has been recognized by more and more overseas customers. Yuan Xun, general manager of Zoomlion's Belarusian subsidiary, proudly introduced that the 25-ton and 60-ton truck cranes currently produced by Zoomlion are very popular in many overseas countries or regions, and sales this year are expected to hit a new high.
Driving to the southern suburbs of Minsk, next to the branch campus of the Belarusian State University, the reporter saw a familiar "aurora green" color. A truck crane produced by Zoomlion is raising its boom high and moving the cement slab. Yura, a local business operator in Belarus, said with a smile that after it is completed, it will be a sports center with a swimming pool. “I have operated local cranes in Belarus before, but I feel that the cranes produced by Zoomlion are better to use. They are made in China and are great.”
Next to the branch campus of Belarusian State University, Zoomlion truck cranes are put into local construction.
Those who share common interests are not far away from mountains and seas. The Belt and Road Initiative connects the world into a vibrant whole. From relying on imports to realizing localization, from being rarely interested in the international market to going abroad, China's manufacturing has completed a "reborn" upgrade. The "Hunan" brand, a major country, has "sailed out" and invested in the construction of projects in Belarus. The practice has become " Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, it is a vivid epitome of economic and trade interoperability and industrial integration between China and Belarus.
The speeding "Steel Camel Team":
From "a single branch" to "a flourishing branch"
Hunan does not follow borders or seas, and lacks "going out" channels. This was once one of the bottlenecks restricting the development of Hunan's open economy.
On October 30, 2014, Hunan launched its first international railway freight train directly to Europe, the "Xiang-Europe Express Line", ending Hunan's history of no direct international freight trains to the hinterland of Europe. Two years later, the "Hunan-Europe Express" was included in the unified brand management of China-Europe trains.
The fast-moving China-Europe freight train.
Now, when you open the map, among the Hunan China-Europe trains, there is one route that is particularly "busy", and that is what people call the "Russian Line Tianban" - the Changsha to Minsk, Belarus train. Now this train has become the "star train" among the China-Europe trains. During its peak period, the train's shipments accounted for nearly half of the country's Minsk train shipments, ranking first in the country.
Li Cong, deputy director of the dispatching duty office of the Changsha Freight Center of Guangzhou Railway Group, said that Hunan Province is one of the earliest provinces in the country to launch China-Europe freight trains. In 2022 alone, the number of China-Europe freight trains in Hunan reached 1,063. Since Hunan Province launched its first China-Europe freight train in 2014, the average annual growth rate of Hunan’s China-Europe freight train has reached 135%.
In the past, most Hunan companies exported to Europe, and more of them chose shipping. Now, compared with shipping by sea, the transportation time can be shortened by more than 20 days when shipping goods from Hunan to Europe through the China-Europe Express.
The trains are speeding and the journey is becoming more and more convenient. The shuttles of the "Steel Camels" have given wings to Hunan manufacturing to take off, and also opened a convenient channel for Hunan enterprises to "compete" in overseas markets.
With the rapid development of China-Europe freight trains in Hunan, in recent years, more and more Hunan companies such as Zoomlion and Sunward Intelligent have customized China-Europe freight train transportation plans and launched special trains.
In mid-October, in Manzhouli, China's largest land transport port, the reporter saw at the container yard of Manzhouli Station that rows of return trains were parked on the line. The giant gantry crane waved its "steel arm" and grabbed each container and put it in the right place. On the rail car, the inbound China-Europe train is being refitted here. Liu Guiqing, a gantry crane driver at the container yard at Manzhouli Station, said that in recent years, the traffic volume of China-Europe trains has increased, and there have been more and more return trains to Hunan. Recently, there are about two trains handled every day.
At the container yard of Manzhouli Station, a giant gantry crane is waving its "steel arm" and is performing reloading operations on the return China-Europe freight train.
Over the past ten years, the traffic volume of China-Europe trains has increased, and there have been more and more return trains to Hunan.
As of October 2023, Hunan China-Europe trains have laid out 15 operating routes, reaching more than 30 countries and regions including Russia, Belarus, and Germany. From "a single branch" to "luxuriant branches", from a "line" to a "network", China-Europe trains have crossed mountains and seas, paving a new path for cultural, economic and trade exchanges between the Eurasian continent.
"Two-way rush" across time and space:
From separation by mountains and rivers to interconnection
The road is never lonely, and together we can go a long way.
As an important node on the Silk Road Economic Belt, Belarus was one of the first countries to respond to and actively participate in China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative. The China-Belarus Industrial Park jointly built by both parties has gone through ten years of development and has now become a China-Belarus industrial park. A landmark project to jointly build the Silk Road Economic Belt.
At the entrance of the China-Belarus Industrial Park, there stands an iconic "boulder". It is the name given to the industrial park by Belarusian President Lukashenko, symbolizing that the friendship between the peoples of China and Belarus is as solid as a boulder. Not far away, the Chinese slogan "Time is money, efficiency is life" makes people feel very friendly.
The China-Belarus Industrial Park is the largest investment attraction project in Belarus and an important cooperation project between China and Belarus.
In recent years, finding a job in the China-Belarus Industrial Park has become something that Belarusians are very proud of. Lobazov Kirill Mihalovich, chief engineer of Zoomlion's Belarusian subsidiary, is one of them.
Kirill joined the Chinese company when Zoomlion's Belarusian subsidiary was established, and it has been eight years since its establishment. Over the years, Kirill has witnessed Zoomlion's development into the largest manufacturing company in the park and has a deep affection for the company. In his opinion, Chinese people are hard-working, positive and optimistic, and have many excellent qualities. Working in the park, not only can you make many Chinese friends, but you can also gain a lot of knowledge and work experience that cannot be obtained from books.
Whatever you do with accumulated strength, you will be victorious in everything you do; whatever you do with wisdom, you will be successful in everything.
Kirill is just one of countless foreign employees in the park. Nowadays, in Belarus, more and more foreign employees have joined the family of Chinese-funded enterprises, and the China-Belarus Industrial Park has also welcomed more and more Chinese residents. enterprise.
Lobazov Kirill Michalovich (first from left), chief engineer of Zoomlion’s Belarusian subsidiary, works with Chinese colleagues.
Peter Yakimov, the first deputy director of the China-Belarus Industrial Park Management Committee, said that there are currently 117 resident companies in the park, 55 of which are Chinese companies. The industries in the park involve automobile manufacturing, logistics, biomedicine and new materials, etc. fields. In the future, according to the plans of both China and Belarus, the park will become an ecological, innovative and smart new city. It is expected that 100,000 people will work and live here. More and more large-scale Chinese production companies and high-tech companies will settle here. The China-Belarus Industrial Park will also be built into an international cooperation project and a satellite city of Minsk.
The moment the China-Europe train passed through the country, blood surged.
Living in a foreign country, jointly building the "Belt and Road" and making the world a better place is the aspiration of every Chinese builder.
From relying on imported parts and components to manufacturing in Hunan going abroad and investing in the construction of Europe and Asia; from the leisurely camel caravans to the fast China-Europe trains speeding along the Silk Road, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has not only brought benefits to the people of the countries along the route, but also pushed the world towards The beautiful vision of realizing common prosperity and building a community with a shared future for mankind continues to advance.
In recent years, the number of Hunan's China-Europe freight trains has almost doubled every year, reflecting Hunan's hard work and aggressiveness in "going overseas". The journey followed by the reporter is both a journey of witnessing and a journey of chasing the wind. This wind is openness and chasing dreams.
The efforts to cross mountains and seas have never stopped, and the "two-way rush" with full results is continuing on the New Silk Road.
"Messengers look at each other on the road, and business travels are endless." The turn of historical years has turned the trade camel convoys on the Silk Road into the "steel camel convoys" of China-Europe freight trains. No matter in the past, present or future, the camel convoys across mountains and seas will The efforts have never stopped, and the "two-way rush" with full results is continuing on the New Silk Road.