Seven heavy-duty trucks wearing TIR labels recently departed from the “Silk Road E-commerce” Comprehensive Service Base in succession. This marks the opening of the SCO Demonstration Area(SCODA)-Azerbaijan TIR route. The opening of this route is not only an important step taken by the SCODA to overcome pain points and choke points in logistics and help Qingdao’s industries to venture abroad, but a major achievement in deepening economic and trade cooperation between Qingdao, Azerbajan and west Asia, thus providing a new channel for foreign trade companies to tap into west Asian markets.

The newly-opened SCODA-Azerbaijan TIR route has helped build a “main artery” for logistics, through which sea transportation is not necessary at all and land transportation suffices to send goods to west Asia. Transport times can be shortened by half. Moreover, the transportation mode featuring “no transshipment, no reloading” can better ensure the safety of goods, and provide tangible benefit to more manufacturing enterprises based in Qingdao or even other places of China.

(Wang Meng, Wang Shan)

Trucks wearing TIR labels depart in succession the SCODA for Azerbaijan.