China Post on Wednesday opened its first independent intercontinental flight route, linking Nanjing City, east China's Jiangsu Province, and Luxembourg, and covering 36 European countries.
The new route is expected to cut delivery time to major European destinations to at maximum four to seven days.
The flight for the new route is the wide-body all-cargo Boeing 777-F aircraft introduced by China Post for the first time. Its maximum commercial weight can reach 102 tons, and the flight from Nanjing to Luxembourg Airport in Findel can be completed in less than 11 hours.
"We plan to have two flights a week, one on Wednesday and one on Friday. For example, the parcels received in Nanjing on Tuesday will depart at 02:00 on Wednesday, arrive in Luxembourg at 08:20 European time, and be shipped to other countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands by truck flights on the same day. If everything goes well, the parcels can be delivered to the final destinations on the same day they arrive in Luxembourg," said Wang Tongju, Party secretary of China Postal Airlines.
China Post currently operates a fleet of more than 40 aircraft. Prior to the newly-opened Nanjing-Luxembourg route, the state-owned postal service giant's independent flight network covered Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and other neighboring Asian countries, as well as Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions of China.
Going forward, China Post plans to focus on using the airports in Nanjing and Zhengzhou, a transportation hub in central China, and open intercontinental routes to Australia and North America step by step.
China Post opens first independent intercontinental flight route
Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, praised the cooperation between China and the World Bank as exemplary, emphasizing the equal importance of mutual learning and financial support between the two sides.
In an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG), Banga elaborated on the cooperation between China and the World Bank, stressing that lessons and practices from China's development can be helpful and inspirational for other countries.
"I think China is one of those countries that is the model case, in some ways, for how the bank should be working with a country. China at one time, 40 years ago, was a recipient of IDA grant. And IDA is that part of the bank that lends money to the countries that are most in need. China got from there to where, today, China is one of the larger donors to the bank. It is the perfect story of how you get income and money from the bank when you need it, and then the time comes, and you're better off, and you can help other countries," he said.
According to Banga, China has fully leveraged two key aspects of the World Bank--funding and expertise. Both have been pivotal in their cooperation over the past decades.
"Right from the beginning, China and its government did a sort of a collaboration with the bank, where the focus was not just on money but on knowledge. And I think the idea of pulling knowledge from the bank and from our people and our expertise and then using it for projects and development in China, and now taking China's experience and using it elsewhere. That again is a model case for the World Bank," said Banga.
Banga emphasized the global impact of China's sustainable development initiatives and the World Bank's dual role in providing financial and intellectual resources.
"Ideas of what you're doing with green, sustainable growth have been used elsewhere. Your train system, your infrastructure, these are things that can be used elsewhere. So the idea of a learning model which learns both ways is as important as the money. And I tell everyone that the World Bank is both a money bank and a knowledge bank, and China has made use of both," he said.
Founded in 1944, the World Bank has 189 member countries and five subsidiary organizations. Through the provision of loans, credits, and technical assistance, the bank supports the development of developing countries in the fields of infrastructure construction, education, health, agriculture, and so on. Over the years, it has played an important role in reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development, and solving global challenges.
On May 15, 1980, China officially resumed its lawful seat in the World Bank. In 1981, the World Bank and its subsidiary, the International Development Association (IDA), provided China with its first blended loan totaling 200 million U.S. dollars to support the development of higher education in China.
Over the past 40 years, China has transitioned from borrowing from the World Bank to donating to the bank on its own initiative and from an ordinary member country to the third largest shareholder. China's cooperation with the World Bank has witnessed the rapid development of its economy and has also promoted China to play an increasingly important role on the world stage.
Cooperation between China, World Bank exemplary: president
