China has launched the world's first China-Europe Arctic Express route — a scheduled container service that uses the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to reach Europe in just 18 days.
The container ship Istanbul Bridge departed Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on Sept. 22, and will connect major Chinese ports, including Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian, and Shanghai on one end, with key European ports such as Felixstowe in the UK, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany, and Gdansk in Poland.
The route is tailored for cross-border e-commerce and high-value goods, marking a key milestone in the Belt and Road Initiative's push to develop the "Polar Silk Road." It also provides a faster and more efficient channel for shipping goods, such as building materials, textiles, and electromechanical products, to European markets.
State media, quoting Xiao Bin, a business manager of China Ocean Shipping Agency Fuzhou Co., Ltd., said the service is about a week faster than the China-Europe rail service and more than 20 days faster than traditional routes through the Suez Canal or around the Cape of Good Hope.
The new route adds sailings and expands cargo transport options to Europe, aligning with the region's peak pre-Christmas stocking season. It enables exporters to reach the market earlier and sidestep delays common during the busiest shipping period.
The European Union remains Ningbo Port's top trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling 330.74 billion yuan (about US$46.5 billion) in the first eight months of the year, according to Ningbo Customs. That figure marks a 12% increase from the same period last year and accounts for roughly 18% of the port's overall foreign trade.
The China-Europe Arctic express route offers the fastest container transit between China and major European ports, cutting travel time by 22 days and halving one-way carbon emissions compared to traditional routes.
Despite its efficiency, the use of the Northern Sea Route remains contentious due to its potential harm to the fragile Arctic environment and limited infrastructure to assist vessels in emergencies.
