From Chengdu to Casablanca: new rail-sea lines to speed up China-Africa trade

China is using new hybrid logistics links or multimodal rail-sea lines to bypass cargo chokepoints in an effort to speed up trade with Africa, where it is the largest trading partner.
New rail-sea hybrid transport options stretching from western China as far as Europe, which are speeding up goods movement to Africa, imply the belt and road plan is working, and they are also in line with China’s aim of boosting exports from less-developed western regions. The Chengdu-Europe-Africa rail-sea transport line opened recently can move freight to Morocco via the German port of Hamburg, as the North African nation emerges as the centre for tripartite trade. When the train from Chengdu in south-western China arrives in Hamburg via the China-Europe Railway Express, the goods will then travel by sea, reaching its final destination, Morocco’s Port of Casablanca, in about 35 days.
“For decades, Algeria had been the primary focal point of Chinese engagement in the Maghreb,” says John Calabrese from the American University in Washington, adding that in January, Morocco became the first North African country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Therefore, according to Calabrese, it was hardly surprising that the new line ended in Casablanca since “China has worked assiduously to woo Morocco in recent years”. In 2020, trade between China and Morocco totaled US$4.76bn, with Morocco’s exports to China including mainly calcium phosphate, raw copper and zinc ore, while primary Chinese exports to Morocco are tea, pile fabric and broadcasting equipment. The new hybrid logistic link is also designed to help companies in western China export goods to Africa as part of Beijing’s strategy to increase exports from the western provinces, which are less developed than coastal regions.