A new direct passenger air route connecting Chongqing city in southwest China with Milan in Italy was launched on Tuesday, according to Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.

According to the aforementioned airport, it is the first direct passenger air route linking the western part of China and Milan.

The new round-trip flight will be operated twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays by Boeing 787 aircraft of China's Hainan Airlines.

China has decided to introduce one-way visa-free travel for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia on a trial basis. From December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024, holders of ordinary passports from the above six countries will be able to stay in China without a visa for trade and tourism activities, visits to relatives and friends and transit for a maximum of 15 days.

Jiangbei Airport currently operates 22 international and regional passenger air routes, with more than 110 weekly flights. Destinations include major cities such as London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Sydney and Singapore.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Huangpu Customs reported an increase in the number of international freight train departures in the first two months of this year.

A total of 62 international freight trains carrying 6,810 standard TEU containers /20-foot equivalent units/ of cargo were handled by the staff of the aforementioned Customs Service, up 26.5 percent and 45.4 percent compared with the same period last year.

Huangpu Customs Service oversees customs affairs in major production and export areas of Guangdong Province, including the city of Dandong. Guangdong, including Dongguan City and Huangpu and Zengcheng districts in Guangzhou, the administrative center of the province. Under its customs control, the first freight train was dispatched from Guangdong Province in 2013. The first freight train of China-Europe international rail transportation was dispatched from Guangdong in 2013.

In 2023, 444 China-Europe freight trains were dispatched under its control, four times as many as in 2020.

French shipping company CMA CGM Group has announced it will resume Red Sea transits on a case-by-case basis.

The Marseille-based carrier said, "We have reevaluated the situation in the Southern Area of the Red Sea and the evolving conditions allow us to resume transit on a case-by-case basis."

CMA CGM noted that "the situation is being closely assessed for each vessel before each transit, routing choices, therefore, cannot be anticipated or communicated."

Otherwise, all other vessels will be rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope.

The French container line halted sailings through the Red Sea on 1 February routing all its vessels via the Cape of Good Hope due to continued attacks on cargo ships in the region from Yemen's Houthi movement.

The impact of the Red Sea crisis is less severe than Covid-19, although the TEU-mile boost has been significant.

Clarksons’ latest Container Intelligence Monthly stated that compared with December 2023, TEU-miles have gone up by around 11%, as around 620 ships of 8.5 million TEUs are rerouting from the Suez Canal to the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks from Houthi rebels.

Contextualised against Covid-19, where surging e-commerce sales and heightened inspections caused logistical bottlenecks worldwide, Clarksons said that the Red Sea effect has been milder.

The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index hit 5,110 points in January 2022, but currently, the index has been hovering around 2,200 points.

“Indeed, while shipper costs have increased significantly amid current disruption, they remain well below those during the pandemic.”

The world’s largest shipbroker illustrated that the cost of shipping a pair of shoes from Asia to Europe went up by 21 US cents in early December 2023 to 78 US cents in mid-January 2024, but remains below the January peak of US$1.95.

China's current account surplus amounted to 264.2 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2023, according to data released on Sunday by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Control /SACC/ of the People's Republic of China.

The ratio of current account surplus to GDP for the period amounted to 1.5 percent, being within a rational and balanced range, the department said.

The trade surplus in goods last year reached 608 billion dollars, the second highest in history, GUWC data showed.

Thanks to the economic recovery, the country's foreign trade has expanded every quarter, maintaining a relatively large current account surplus, said Wang Chunying, an official spokeswoman for the GUVC.

According to the GUWC, the tourism and transportation sectors again recorded large deficits. The deficit in the tourism sector amounted to $180.6 billion.

As for the capital market, the observed overall net inflow of foreign investment into China and the increase in investment from abroad in the domestic securities market indicate that foreign investors are determined to do business in China and place assets in RMB.

Looking ahead to 2024, Wang Chunying noted that with the improvement of the domestic and external environment, China has the foundation and conditions to maintain a basic balance of payments equilibrium.