The first sea shipping route connecting East South America and Europe operated by a Chinese company was officially launched on Friday, with the first vessel taking the route setting sail at a port in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The vessel, operated by China's shipping giant COSCO, will ship 3,000 containers of products from various South American countries, including Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, to European countries after two weeks.

The government of the State of Rio de Janeiro greatly welcomed the opening of the route, as it provides a more economical and convenient channel for South American countries to conduct global trade.

"[The state government] is very happy to see the opening of this route, which is very important for Rio de Janeiro as it increases Rio State's competitive advantage. This port is located in the center of Rio City. [The opening of the route] facilitates the export trade of products from Rio State and other states. That shows that our state has a powerful helping to technology development, which brings more business and trade opportunities to our state," Leonardo Lobo, secretary of finance of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

The opening of the new freight route has improved the convenience of the company's trade with Europe and reduced transportation costs for the country's pillar industries, including coffee production, which accounts for about one-third of the world's total, according to an import and export enterprise leader.

"We are very, very happy that now we have this new line to Europe, because 65 percent of the coffee that we move out of Brazil is to Europe, so this is extremely important for our coffee business, so this is extremely important and efficient for our customers," said Daniela Neves, commercial director of Commodity Supplies AG's Brazil branch.

Source: CCTV

 

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