The German city of Duisburg, point of arrival at the center of Europe for trains on the new Silk Road, struggles to attract capital in a climate of growing political tension with Beijing
Chinese trains arrive loaded in Duisburg, Germany. According to a report published today in the Spanish newspaper El País, even this large inland port of Europe is arriving even more trains from China now than before the Covid-19 pandemic. “Chinese exports recovered very quickly. We now receive between 45 and 60 trains from China per week, ”Martin Murrack, head of finance for the Duisburg Chamber, told El País.
This is a record number compared to the average of 35 compositions that arrived before the pandemic. Despite diplomatic relations between China and the European Union being strained, trade ties could not be in better health.
The New Silk Road is arriving in Europe and is coming by train. Realpolitik is particularly felt in Duisburg, a city in western Germany. Here the Chinese are a kind of Marshall Plan that the authorities try to seduce. Asian manna is vital for this former German mining town whose economy is stagnant and facing the same problems as other cities on the Old Continent. In other words, they are eager for Chinese investment but fearful of the political impact on the protection of rights and public opinion that accompanies the expansion of the Asian giant, writes the Spanish newspaper.
