New #TIR trade route now connects #China to #Pakistan and #Afghanistan
IRU member CEVA Logistics and Pakistani transport company National Logistics Corporation (NLC) completed the first operation along this new TIR route, linking Kashgar, China, to Pakistan by door-to-door #roadtransport for the first time. NLC also extended this route to Kabul, Afghanistan.
Yan Zhou, IRU’s Chief Representative of East and Southeast Asia, said, “The importance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) goes far beyond the two countries - it also links China to the Middle East and Europe through Pakistan. Countries in the region, like Afghanistan, will also benefit from the development of CPEC.”
“With TIR now active along the CPEC, which this year is marking its 10th anniversary under the Belt and Road Initiative, we will diversify transport routes between China and Pakistan, further enhancing regional trade resilience and security,” she added.
Tang Kelvin, Global Cross Border and Multimodal Product Leader at CEVA Logistics, said, “This successful pilot is another milestone of CEVA exploring new TIR corridors, and marks the beginning of a new chapter in Chinese-Pakistani road transport.”
“CEVA is committed to developing and delivering more flexible and efficient international logistics solutions for its customers,” he added.
Brig Nasir Zia, NLC's Chief Operating Officer, said, "This milestone achievement, facilitated by IRU under the TIR Convention, represents a pivotal advancement not only by activating the CPEC corridor, but also in the domain of transit trade along the China-Pakistan-Afghanistan corridor."
"The result of the transport shows that this route slashes travel times by approximately 70% compared to maritime and promises substantial reductions in logistics costs, anticipated to be at least 50%," he added.
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