Cargo ship Dongchen Qingdao from Dongchen Line Co Photo: Courtesy of Dongchen Line Co

With the bursting sound of a whistle, cargo ship Dongchen Qingdao set sail on June 18 from Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province, carrying about 150 standard containers, including textiles, electronic products and precision parts and other goods.

After a 36-hour journey, the ship arrived at Osaka South Port in Japan, marking the first successful voyage of the China-Japan marine "golden channel" from Qingdao to Osaka.

This is the first fast logistics route between a city in northern China and Japan. The opening of the Qingdao-Osaka express line reflects the close economic ties between the two countries and the strong demand for cooperation, as the bilateral trade amounted to $371.4 billion last year.

New options 

On January 1, 2022, when the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, Qingdao signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Dongchen Line Co to build a direct shipping express line between Qingdao and Osaka. The project was completed six months later.

Li Chunli, an assistant to the general manager of the shipping company, told the Global Times that the ocean express is a fast service with a speed of more than 25 nautical miles per hour, mainly for roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessels.

The sailing time from Qingdao to Osaka is about 36 hours, compared with two or three days for ordinary cargo. Following coordination between the customs authorities of the two localities, the goods arriving at the ports via the "China-Japan RCEP Express" can be cleared on arrival. 

In the past, fresh foodstuffs were mainly transported by air, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the timeliness of air transportation has been reduced while prices have risen, Li said, noting that the freight cost for the RCEP Express is only one twentieth or one thirtieth of air freight.

"Export goods via the sea express are mainly cold and fresh food, textile, household appliances, while the imports mainly include precision parts and LCD screens. We believe that with the RCEP coming into effect, there will be new opportunities for open development between the two countries in the future," Li noted.

"Qingdao has taken full advantage of its location to offer new options to its customers, and a number of Japanese companies have expressed their expectation for the RCEP Express Line and their demand for 'fast and low cost' transportation," Ryo Honda, chairman of the board and president of Mitsubishi Corp (Qingdao), told the Global Times.

He added that one of the main businesses of his company is to export Chinese products mainly from Shandong to Japan, including aquatic products, fruits and vegetables and processed food. Currently, due to the depreciation of the Japanese yen and other factors, domestic prices in Japan have risen, but he believes that with the reduction on tariffs under the RCEP, trade between China and Japan will provide the Japanese people with good quality, inexpensive food. 

"As China and Japan are inseparable neighbors, the opening of new route with geographical advantages will make the supply chain between the two countries smoother and provide customers with new options for faster and better transportation," said Toshihiro Ueda, chief representative of AGC Group for China.

He noted that Qingdao is home to a large number of Japanese companies and Osaka is the business capital of Japan. The "China-Japan RCEP Express" will undoubtedly bring the two cities closer and energize the development of both countries.

Economy not tied to politics

After the RCEP came into effect, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) was officially launched during US President Joe Biden's visit to Japan, aiming to counterbalance RCEP.

Ueda told the Global Times that the implementation of RCEP has laid an important foundation for China-Japan trade in terms of tariff concessions, market access and regional supply chain adjustment, providing more opportunities for the development of comprehensive free trade, which will greatly promote the bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

"As a businessman, I don't want to see politics tied to economics. The RCEP provides a platform for most Asian countries to participate broadly in free trade, which is full of enthusiasm and common development," Ueda noted.

Honda also said that Japan cannot just have good relations with the US. Japan and China have close economic and cultural ties and the country must demonstrate a balanced stance between Washington and Beijing. 

"There are various economic networks in the world such as RCEP, IPEF and CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership). As a company, we should take the initiative to establish contacts with various countries and should not just join one certain circle," he noted.

China always has a number of new business opportunities and Japan lacks this vitality, Honda told the Global Times, noting that the opening of the "China-Japan RCEP Express" and the implementation of RCEP are just the beginning, and he is willing to stay in China, working with many excellent Chinese enterprises to forge an "extraordinary development path."