Regular container service to start from Wuhan to Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya

A CONTAINER shipping route that connects Wuhan, capital Hubei Province on the middle reaches of the Yangtze with Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya opened officially on November 28.

In 2018, Japan became the fourth largest trading partner of Hubei Province and the second largest trading partner of Wuhan, with annual trade value with Hubei reaching CNY27.4 billion (US$3.9 billion), up 18.5 per cent year on year.



Compared with existing routes, the river-ocean container shipping route can save about two days and takes only five days for cargo to reach these Japanese ports.



Apart from largely reducing logistics costs, the container shipping route also helps expand the railway-waterway joint transportation channels between Japan and Europe through Wuhan as a place of transshipment.



As Zhang Lin, director of Wuhan New Port Administration Committee, introduces, direct container shipping services will be offered once a week with two vessels on duty by turns.



Upon the future stable operation of the route, services will be increased to twice a week with four container ships providing services by turns together with an increase in ports of call in Japan, according to Mr Zhang.



By April 2020, the route is expected to link up with the Sino-Europe freight train routes of Wuhan to realise multi-model international transportation via transshipment in the city.



By the closed-loop international logistics channel, goods from Japan can be delivered to regions such as Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.



In recent years, 80 per cent of export commodities of Wuhan, whose foreign trade kept growing rapidly, have been exported via shipping, triggering demands for direct international shipping routes.


WORLD SHIPPING