China-Europe Sea-Land Express Passages and the Balkans as the Pivot of the Belt-and-Road Transportation Network

摘要

Cross-border freight transportation serves as a linchpin for China's Belt-and-Road strategy.This paper advocates for the building of a China-Europe sea-land express passage.It discusses in detail related issues including the background to the situation,the infrastructure,railway technological standards,the current status,and so on.The author tries to leverage increasing attention for the role of the Balkans in the suggested multimodal transportation.The immediate task is to complete in a timely manner the Hungary-Serbia railway and its extensions,as these would be an acid test in terms of risk assessment and avoidance capability for relevant Chinese companies.