All three new routes can serve the “going global” demand of “Made in China,” but “Made in China” is not equivalent to “Made by Chinese.” It’s simply that global enterprises can find more cost-effective supply chain solutions in China.
On November 11th, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers, the “national team” in China’s special transportation sector, launched three new liner routes originating from Suzhou, heading to Southeast Asia, the Persian Gulf, and Northwestern Europe respectively. Each route highlights the characteristics and future development trends of industrial development between China and the relevant regions.
Behind COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers’ pursuit of fast and certain liner routes is the emphasis on the “optimized coordination” of transportation capacity for “Made in China.” The lineralization of special transportation is a positive response to the fact that “traditional sporadic sailings can hardly meet the rigid requirements of customers’ project schedules,” effectively promoting systematic change in the special transportation industry.
Three Routes Launched in One Day: Serving “Made in China”
“Made in China” Goes Out, European Raw Materials Come In
The three new routes launched by COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers are the Southeast Asia Heavy Lift Liner, the Persian Gulf Liner, and the Northwestern Europe Liner.
The Southeast Asia Heavy Lift Liner operates on a semi-monthly basis, serving the West Pacific and Australia-New Zealand regions. Relying on a heavy lift fleet of 9000-62000 DWT with lifting capacity up to 700 tons, it departs from Chinese ports like Qingdao, Suzhou, and Dongguan directly to major Southeast Asian ports such as Laem Chabang in Thailand, Singapore, and Jakarta in Indonesia. It mainly transports cargoes like wind power projects, high-speed rail locomotives, engineering vehicles, special containers and oversized equipment, and steel structures.
The Persian Gulf Liner connects major Chinese loading ports with core discharge ports in the Persian Gulf region. In China, it centers on Suzhou Port and Qingdao Port, offering fixed “two sailings plus” per month. Through a “one-port loading, one-port discharge” model, it achieves direct arrival at core Persian Gulf ports like Dammam in Saudi Arabia and Jebel Ali in the UAE in about 20 days. It provides efficient and stable “door-to-door” service for new energy equipment and engineering project materials through priority berthing agreements and green customs clearance channels.
The Northwestern Europe Liner creates a two-way express channel, achieving direct connection between Asia and Northwestern Europe in both directions. The outbound leg departs from core Chinese ports like Taicang Port in Suzhou and Qinhuangdao Port in Hebei, directly to basic ports in Northwestern Europe such as Antwerp in Belgium, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Cuxhaven in Germany. The return leg departs from Finnish ports like Kemi and Kotka and the aforementioned European basic ports, directly to Qingdao Port and Changshu Port in China, with the fastest transit time of 35 days. Utilizing advanced ship types like the “Tian” series, “Fu” series, 68K pulp carriers, and DaIII series heavy lift vessels, the outbound leg mainly carries goods like steel products, ton bags, steel structures, equipment, new energy vehicles, energy storage cabinets, and wind power components. The return leg mainly carries pulp, concentrates, and grains. It offers a bi-weekly service, significantly improving logistics timeliness between Asia and Northwestern Europe.
Unsurprisingly, all three new routes serve the “going global” demand of “Made in China,” but the only one achieving “full load out, full load back” is the Northwestern Europe Liner. Looking closely at the return cargo, however, one finds that what is shipped back to China from the traditional European manufacturing centers are raw materials like pulp, concentrates, and grains, perhaps highlighting China’s position as the global manufacturing hub.
The reason Suzhou was chosen as the core port of origin for these three new routes is precisely because it is a major hub for Chinese manufacturing. Taking listed companies, often regarded as the “top students” (the best of the best) in the business world, as an example: according to the latest data released by the Suzhou Municipal Financial Office, Suzhou currently has a cumulative total of 281 listed companies, with 227 listed on the domestic A-share market (ranking 5th nationally) and 57 on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board (STAR Market) (second only to Shanghai and Beijing). In 2025 alone, 16 companies were newly listed domestically and overseas, including 9 on the domestic A-share market, ranking first nationally in number.
Furthermore, according to Suzhou Port, its near-sea routes have basically achieved full coverage of core ports in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, and it is continuously improving service levels for routes to South America (Peru’s Chancay Port), Brazil, Chile, and North Africa, gradually building a shipping logistics system that traverses east and west, connects rivers and seas, covers near and deep sea, and links rivers, seas, and oceans, providing important support for Suzhou and surrounding enterprises to explore overseas markets. Among these, the cooperation between COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers and Suzhou Port has yielded remarkable results. In April 2025, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers Suzhou Company was established, embarking on a new journey to deeply cultivate the Yangtze River and deploy globally. In September, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers launched the South America West Direct Express Liner, establishing a fixed liner channel between Suzhou and Chancay and the South American continent.
“Made in China” Industrial Chain Connects the Globe, Development Opportunities Shared Worldwide
Of course, “Made in China” is not equivalent to “Made by Chinese.” Traditional European manufacturing powerhouses, including Germany, may not have lost their manufacturing advantages; they have simply found more cost-effective supply chain solution providers in China, including COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers – China’s supply chains are a global public good, thereby making “Made in Germany” and others an indispensable part of the “Made in China” industrial chain.
For instance, German companies are “clustering” in Taicang. According to the Taicang Municipal Government website, since the first German-invested company, Kern-Liebers, settled in Taicang in 1993, the total number of German enterprises had exceeded 550 by the end of April 2025, including over 60 “hidden champion” enterprises. Six of Germany’s top ten machine tool companies have established presence in Taicang. Schaeffler Group, the largest German company in Taicang, is a representative example. At the new route launch event, the European Business Investment Enterprise Association of Taicang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone was among those signing strategic cooperation agreements with COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers.
Optimizing and Coordinating Transport Capacity: Lineralization of Special Transportation
The launch of these three new routes means COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers has expanded its liner series products from 5 to 8, forming a more comprehensive global service network. The company stated that with stable weekly sailings and efficient direct services, the five previously successfully operated liner routes – the Direct Southeast Africa Express, the South America East BRICS Express, the South America West Chancay Express, the Mediterranean Liner, and the Red Sea Liner – have become important bridges linking China with countries along the “Belt and Road” and key international economic regions.
Reportedly, as part of the “shipping national team,” COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers has cumulatively transported nearly 120 million freight tons of cargo for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries since the initiative was proposed 12 years ago. Among these, 20.946 million freight tons were completed in the first 10 months of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 67.4%, making it a pioneer and frontrunner in the shipping industry’s support for BRI construction.
Behind these achievements lies the concerted磨合 (móhé, /磨合 in original text, meaning磨合,磨合) and exploration between COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers and its customers. For example, regarding the lineralization of breakbulk cargo transport, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers stated: “Much of the cargo transported by the COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers fleet directly supports infrastructure and energy projects, such as wind power equipment, high-speed rail locomotives, and engineering vehicles. Customers have extremely high logistics demands regarding transport timeliness, safety, and customization for these oversized and heavy-lift cargoes. We observed that customers commonly face pain points in actual operations such as unstable sailing schedules, high risks in transporting special cargo, and difficulty in coordinating multiple types of cargo, especially as traditional sporadic sailings can hardly meet the rigid requirements of customers’ project schedules. The ‘Belt and Road’ series liner services we launched, including the three new routes announced this time, can turn uncertain sailing schedules into predictable, stable, and efficient logistics guarantees, proactively serving and precisely对接 (duìjiē,对接 in original text, meaning对接,对接) customers’ project rhythms. Simultaneously, the lineralization of breakbulk cargo transport promoted by COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers breaks the common practice in the industry, strongly promoting innovative development within the sector.”
The lineralization of special transportation requires meeting multiple conditions. COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers stated that to enable the “Belt and Road” series liner services to have faster transit times, more frequent dispatch frequencies, more economical logistics costs, and safer, more reliable freight services, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers is building a “Route+”, “Product+”, “Channel+”, “Smart+” matrix, essentially grasping customers with one hand and optimizing and coordinating transport capacity for customers with the other.
“Route+” – COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers owns a special transportation fleet whose scale and comprehensive strength rank among the world’s top. It is the only shipping enterprise globally with successful operational experience on both Arctic and Antarctic polar routes. The company’s vessels sail between over 1,600 ports in more than 160 countries and regions, having formed strong advantages on Europe, Americas, Africa, Pan-Indian Ocean, and Pan-Pacific routes, and are actively开拓 (kāituò, 开拓 in original text, meaning开拓,开拓) new routes like the Atlantic and /New Zealand.
COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers continues to densify its network based on existing foundations and expand its service footprint. The company stated it aims to systematically build a widespread, convenient, and accessible maritime transport network connecting China with countries along the “Belt and Road.”
“Product+” – Focusing on professional advantages to create “all-round” solutions. Relying on key cargo sources like new energy, advanced manufacturing, and bulk commodities, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers actively leverages the advantages of multi-vessel type combinations and specialized operations to tailor overall solutions with different vessel combinations for customers. By enhancing service levels and extending service chains, and promoting standardization, normalization, and visualization of the entire service process, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers has formed full-chain service solutions for a series of products including wind power, engineering machinery, commercial vehicles, and pulp, promoting the global expansion of large amounts of advanced manufacturing, including the “new three” (referring to new energy vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products), and helping the global industrial and supply chains to rapidly upgrade in quality.
“Channel+” – Strengthening node layout to enhance end-to-end delivery capability. From the construction of important basic ports, dedicated berths, and specialized yards in China, such as Zhangjiagang, Taicang, and Qingdao, to investments in strategic key nodes overseas like Peru’s Chancay, Brazil’s Sepetiba, Malaysia’s Port Klang, and Greece’s Piraeus, including vehicle storage yards, Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) service centers, and /pulp distribution centers, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers is improving supply chain node construction around the global industrial layout. It strives to strengthen high-quality ground extension services like front and back-end distribution, expanding customer supply chain value with high-value-added, high-efficiency service characteristics and strong channel capability, truly achieving integration across regions, fields, and models.
“Smart+” – Adhering to innovation-driven development to solidify the foundation of digital and intelligent transformation. Centered on the characteristics of the special transportation business, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers is deeply building intelligent capabilities for the entire cargo transport chain. In the stowage field, it took the lead in the industry in launching intelligent stowage systems for six core cargo types: pulp, flat racks, industrial modules, wind power components, engineering vehicles, and automobiles; it actively promotes the full-chain intelligence of freight transport; simultaneously, focusing on new energy and new materials, it accelerates the integration of artificial intelligence to cultivate new quality productive forces, actively promoting the transformation of the special transportation industry towards digitalization and intelligence, and comprehensively enhancing the full-chain service capability from booking to delivery.
The optimization and coordination of transport capacity have won COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers recognition from numerous customers. At the launch event, COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shagang Logistics. Song Jianzhong, General Manager of Shagang Logistics, stated in his speech: “Logistics, as the bridge linking production and the market, has efficiency and costs that directly impact a company’s competitiveness. The cooperation between Shagang Group and COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers can be described as a strong alliance and complementary advantages. We look forward to in-depth cooperation with COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers in various aspects such as information sharing and resource integration.”
