STORY: China, Europe forge deeper ties via thriving maritime trade routes
DATELINE: Oct. 9, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:50
LOCATION: HANGZHOU, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Port of Hamburg
2. various of cargo ships at ports 
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese): MO WEIDONG, Captain of the COSCO Shipping Virgo

STORYLINE:

In late September, the COSCO Shipping Virgo, once again returned to the Port of Hamburg, the largest port in Germany and the third largest in Europe.

The 20,000-TEU ultra-large container ship embarked on its journey from China's Tianjin Port.

Before arriving in Hamburg, it made stops at various ports, including China's Shanghai and Ningbo, as well as Singapore, Piraeus, and Rotterdam. Right now, it is heading back to Shanghai.

At present, the Port of Hamburg is directly connected to major Chinese ports via 15 regularly scheduled liner services. Approximately one-third of the containers processed at the Port of Hamburg either originate from China or are bound for China.

SOUNDBITE (Chinese): MO WEIDONG, Captain of the COSCO Shipping Virgo
"As China keeps advancing technological innovations, the export of high-tech and high-value-added products has been on the rise. This includes products like electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic panels, among others. Upon returning, we would carry Airbus aircraft components from Hamburg, industrial equipment such as lathes, chemical products, and paper pulp, as well as other products like red wine, beef, and lamb."

In 2022, China and the European Union (EU), who are each other's second-largest trading partners, achieved record bilateral trade flows of 847.3 billion U.S. dollars, marking a year-on-year increase of 2.4 percent.

Simultaneously, the two-way cumulative stock of direct investment had exceeded 230 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2022.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hangzhou, China.
(XHTV)