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JD.com adds dedicated freight train to Europe-China logistics ops

Chinese online retail giant JD.com Inc. said May 22 that it has started running a dedicated freight train between Europe and China to accelerate cross-border e-commerce.

The train completed its inaugural journey from Hamburg, Germany, to Xi'an, China, on May 21, carrying mostly automotive parts and furniture, according to a May 22 statement by the government-run Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park.

The rail route covers 10,000 kilometers of rail lines connecting Europe and East Asia, passing through Poland, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan before reaching China. The Xi'an logistics park said it is 80% cheaper than air transport and cuts shipping time to 13 days compared to 40 days by sea, the method traditionally favored by European producers to ship goods to China.

It is the first time that JD has utilized an entire train to transport goods from Europe. The company previously established a northwestern China operating center in 2014 in the Xi'an logistics park, and received weekly rail freight from cities in Germany, Poland and Hungary.

The e-commerce company said the dedicated train also functions as a mobile warehouse, where goods logged and loaded for transport get immediately listed for sale on JD.com. Chinese shoppers can place orders on products while they are in transit, which serves to shorten wait times for consumers while cutting down on warehousing costs and boosting stock management efficiency for both brands and retailers.

Coupled with real-time data sharing and monitoring, the total fulfillment and distribution time is reduced to around 15 days from the previous 45 days, according to the Xi'an logistics park.

The logistics park also said JD plans to launch a regular service of the train, with 70 runs this year from Hamburg or Duisburg in Germany to Xi'an.

In addition, JD is building a transfer center in Hamburg to extend its new logistics option to more merchants across Europe.