Since late October 2024, Russia has been rigorously inspecting the China-Europe freight trains, resulting in the detention of over a thousand Chinese containers, some of which have been held for more than three months. Experts have raised concerns that the lack of public information regarding any complaints from European buyers suggests there may be more to the detention of these Chinese goods. It’s suspected that there could be a collaboration between China and Russia to circumvent sanctions, with China delivering dual-use military and civilian supplies to Russia.
According to a report by Caixin on January 27th, in recent months, containers bound for Europe via the China-Europe freight trains have been continuously detained by Russia. Several logistics professionals have mentioned that some of the goods destined for Europe are still stranded in Russia to this day.
Liu Zan, the general manager of Banda Tong Logistics (Hunan) Co., Ltd., stated that since late October 2024, their company has had containers passing through Russia detained one after another. “Some of the Christmas cotton clothing from our clients, even though Christmas has long passed, the goods are still being held there.”
Liu Zan’s company mainly engages in full container and LCL cargo services for the China-Europe freight trains, with a total of 70 containers of goods being affected at present.
Industry insiders indicate that over a thousand containers have been affected by this round of detention, leading to some cargo owners being hesitant to use the China-Europe freight trains. Coupled with the off-peak season before the Chinese New Year, the China-Europe freight trains have seen negative growth, with ports like Alashankou appearing deserted.
The report by Caixin mentioned that this round of detentions stemmed from Russia’s Order No. 1374 passed on October 15, 2024. Building upon Order No. 313 from March 9, 2022, Order No. 1374 expanded the list of prohibited goods transiting through Russia to include machinery, electronics, camouflage clothing, primarily targeting dual-use military-civilian items.
Currently, there are four main railway corridors connecting China and Europe, with three of them passing through Russia.
It was reported that on January 9th this year, following a meeting between the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries, some containers were released, but a large number of containers are still stacked in Smolensk, Russia. There is currently no public information indicating that the Chinese government has taken stronger retaliatory measures against Russia.
Sun Guoxiang, a professor at the Department of International Affairs and Business of Nanhua University in Taiwan, previously stated to the Epoch Times that the primary reason for Russia’s detention of China-Europe freight train goods could be the Russian concerns that these supplies might eventually flow to the Ukrainian battlefield. Additionally, it could serve as retaliation against the EU sanctions and pressure on Chinese companies not to overly cooperate with the West.
During an interview with Radio Free Asia, French commentator Wang Longmeng expressed his belief that after three years of war, Russia is facing various material shortages, leading them to resort to plundering tactics.
However, American economist David Huang believes that there may be more to the story of Chinese shipments being detained en route to Europe.
David Huang mentioned on January 29th to the Epoch Times that since Russia’s Order No. 1374 in October 2024, they have been continuously detaining goods from the China-Europe freight trains. Over a thousand containers have been detained, and the detentions keep happening repeatedly, focusing mainly on military-civilian dual-use items. However, there have been no public indications of European buyers expressing concerns or reports of purchased goods being detained.
David Huang indicated that in the scenario where businesses are consistently having their goods seized, it’s not plausible for them to continue resupplying towards Russia in the same direction. Therefore, these goods might have been intentionally designed for purchase by a shell company in Europe, only to be detained at the Russian border, effectively bypassing the UN sanctions on military-civilian dual-use products to Russia. This, essentially, facilitates China in transporting military-civilian dual-use products to Russia.
“There are suppliers on the Chinese mainland saying their shipments have been detained, claiming it was not their intention to send products that could be used for military-civilian dual purposes, especially camouflage clothing.”
He emphasized that it’s evident that China and Russia are staging a spectacle to showcase to the international community. While they might include genuine items like Christmas cotton clothing in the seizures, a significant portion is likely pre-arranged merchandise.
“From around October last year until now, nearly four months of detentions and continuous shipments have been occurring. I never expected there would be companies foolish enough to continue sending goods under such circumstances,” he commented.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country has faced international sanctions. However, China and Russia have subsequently boasted their strategic partnership, with China repeatedly being criticized for indirectly providing military assistance to Russia through various means.
As early as February 6, 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that the non-profit organization C4ADS, which specializes in identifying national security threats, provided them with customs records showing that most of the dual-use military-civilian goods imported by Russia after invading Ukraine last year originated from China.