Updated at 17:53,27-03-2024

First lot of Belarusian liquid milk delivered to China by rail

BELTA

The first lot of liquid milk has been delivered from Belarus to the city of Wuhan, Central China by a special train, BelTA learned from the Chinese newspaper Yangtze.

According to the source, the train brought fresh milk from Belarus to Wuhan. The Chinese-European train is equipped with a cooling system and managed to deliver 21,540 cartons of liquid milk from Belarus. The train left Belarus on 1 October to cross Russia and Kazakhstan to reach China. The train travelled for 9,261km within 11 days.

The refrigerating cars used to transport liquid milk are white and are a bit longer than normal railway freight cars. China Railways representatives said that a common container is 12m long while the refrigerating car is 13.7m long. Such cars are fitted with compressors to keep an optimal temperature through the entire journey. The cars are also fitted with a fuel tank able to keep the compressor going 24/7 for 25 days.

The lot of milk was made by the Belarusian company Savushkin Product. One carton contains 1 liter of milk, with the shelf life of eight months. After passing expert evaluation in Wuhan the milk will be delivered to a warehouse and later on to retail outlets.

In the past Wuhan used to import milk primarily from other European countries. Milk was delivered by sea to Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities and then to Wuhan by land. Consumers could get their milk after 60 days at best.

Plans have been made to deliver cheese, ice cream, beef, mutton, sea food, other foods and medications in refrigerating cars in future.

Representatives of the Wuhan logistics association said they hope that thanks to the implementation of the One Belt, One Road project economic and trade exchanges between Wuhan and European countries, including Belarus, will become more frequent and more various goods made in other countries will be made available in China.