Since 2015, Europort-Lorraine has planned to develop rail transportation from China. A test convoy had left Chengdu on July 13, 2018, but this line needs improvements.
Silk Road railways: more coordination required in the EU
Europe-China Summit: some progress for the New Silk Roads
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met the leaders of the European Union in Beijing for the annual EU-China summit on July 16, 2018.
Former Italian Premier convinced by BRI
According to Romano Prodi, the “Belt and Road Initiative” is the most important project that China has offered to the world.
Angela Merkel’s 11th visit to China
Angela Merkel traveled to China for a state visit on May 2′-25, 2018. This is the eleventh time that Angela Markel goes to China.
China is holding out a hand to the EU about BRI
According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, 27 of the 28 European ambassadors to Beijing released a report warning their respective governments about the Chinese project of the new Silk Roads, highlighting its possible lack of transparency and criticizing the predominance of Chinese interests in this project.
China’s COSCO in Zeebrugge
The Belgian port of Zeebrugge is expected to become a new hub of the Belt and Road initiative. Zeebrugge, the port of Bruges, is the second largest container port in Belgium after Antwerp, and the sixth in the Channel-North Sea region (2016). It is also the leading European port for car transportation.
Connection project between the EU and the new Silk Roads
Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, the European Union’s ambassador to China, announced on January 10 that the European Union was working on a connection project between Europe and Asia that could be linked to China’s Belt and Road initiative.