Wuxi, a bright spot along Belt and Road

The Wuxi section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal stretches for 41 kilometers in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province.

In ancient times, merchant ships transported rice, silk and bricks and tiles between south and north China along the canal.

Today, China-Europe freight trains leave Wuxi West Railway Station for Eurasia, bringing washing machines, electric vehicles and other commodities made in China to countries along the Belt and Road.

Wuxi launched the China-Europe freight train service in March 2022, enabling local enterprises to enjoy efficient and convenient international logistics supply chain services.

Wuxi Little Swan Co Ltd., a major washing machine manufacturer in China, is one of the companies that have benefited from the service.

The steady, safe and efficient delivery services offered by the China-Europe freight trains have helped the company's products reach consumers in countries and regions along the Belt and Road faster.

Drone image shows a China-Europe freight train leaving Wuxi West Railway Station, bringing commodities made in China to countries along the Belt and Road. (Drone image provided by Wuxi West Station Logistics Park)

In 2022, Wuxi Little Swan Co., Ltd. received orders for 70,000 washing machines placed by clients in Russia and Central Asia, and its earnings generated from exports to the region increased by 75 percent.

In the past, the company's exports were transported by sea. It was difficult to procure enough containers and the logistics time was at least 60 days. The China-Europe freight train service can cut this time by half, said Zhang Yan, a senior logistics manager with Wuxi Little Swan Co Ltd.

"Thanks to the freight train service, we've lowered costs by 20 percent and improved efficiency by 30 percent. In 2023, we plan to increase the number of containers on the trains by 35 percent," Zhang added.

To date, China-Europe freight trains departing from Wuxi have transported more than 2,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods worth nearly 500 million yuan, according to Xia Linfei, general manager of Wuxi International Freight Train Co Ltd., operator of the China-Europe freight trains in the city.

Yadea is a global leader in developing and manufacturing electric two-wheel vehicles based in Xishan district of Wuxi. The company owns seven production bases and 100 production lines around the world and sells its products to 100 countries and regions globally.

"It takes just 1,200 seconds to assemble an electric bicycle," said Chen Wen, head of a production unit under Yadea's production management department.

"We have 11 production lines and each of them is able to produce between 1,000 and 1,200 electric bicycles a day," Chen said.

Photo taken in March, 2023 shows one of the production lines of Yadea, a global leader in developing and manufacturing electric two-wheel vehicles. (Photo: Peng Yukai/People's Daily Online)

Over the course of 10 years after the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward, Yadea has entered markets in Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Oceania, and tapped into markets in Germany, the U.S., Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hungary and Romania, said Luo Mingzeng, who is in charge of overseas operations in Yadea.

Yadea's products are available in many countries along the Belt and Road. Currently, Yadea has more than 40,000 stores providing services for over 70 million users around the globe.

The Wuxi Internet of Vehicles (IoV) Town in Xishan district is turning intelligent driving and Internet of Everything into a reality.

The Wuxi IoV Town, which opened in August 2022, gathers more than 100 leading enterprises, bringing great dynamism to the development of the local IoV industry.

Photo taken in April, 2023 shows an autonomous-driving bus in operating in Wuxi IoV Town. (Photo: Liu Ning/People's Daily Online)

According to Wuxi's development plan for the IoV industry from 2021 to 2025, the city plans to build 200 IoV application scenarios and ensure that 80 percent of automobiles in the city are Internet-connected by the end of 2025.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chengliang)