The China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line is a transportation and logistics corridor that forms part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The route connects China to Europe via maritime and overland transport, with Piraeus Port in Greece serving as its primary European hub. The corridor leverages Piraeus's strategic position as the first European port after the Suez Canal and closest deep-water port to the Far East, providing Chinese goods with faster access to European markets through the Mediterranean. [1]
Chinese state-owned enterprise COSCO acquired control of Piraeus Port through a concession agreement beginning in 2008, with majority ownership obtained in 2016. Since COSCO's involvement, container throughput increased from 880,000 TEUs in 2010 to over 5 million TEUs by 2023, making Piraeus the largest container terminal in the Mediterranean and among the top five in Europe. [2]
The China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line links Piraeus to Central and Eastern Europe through multimodal channels, combining maritime shipping, rail transport, and overland trucking. The corridor integrates with European transport networks including the Orient-East Med Corridor, and its rail component is anchored by the Budapest–Belgrade railway, set to be completed in 2026, which connects with Piraeus via the Balkan rail system. This line allows containers unloaded in Piraeus to be transported northward through North Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary and further into European markets. [2]
The express line has shortened transport time to destinations in Central Europe by up to 10 days compared to traditional maritime routes via northern European ports. In 2022, the route handled 181,000 TEUs, an 18.4% annual increase, highlighting its role as a complementary logistics channel to the China–Europe Railway Express. [2] The development of multiple transport channels is viewed by both China and Greece as a way to increase resilience against disruptions, whether from congestion or geopolitical instability such as the 2024 Red Sea crisis, which temporarily diverted traffic away from Piraeus. [2]
