On June 10, the trains of China-Europe Railway Express (Qilu) “SCO Express” for coal return arrived at the SCO Demonstration Area, indicating the successful “three consecutive trains”, as the first batch of special trains for coal return in the SCO Demonstration Area after the implementation of the adjusted temporary tax rate policy for coal import on May 1, with a total of 384 standard containers of about 5000 tons of coal, finally arriving at the SCO Demonstration Area Multimodal Transport Center (Qingdao Central Station of CRCT) through Manzhouli Port.

Energy is the basic support for economic and social development. According to the data released by the State Statistical Bureau on January 17, China produced 4.07 billion tons of raw coal in 2021, an increase of 4.7% over the previous year, 5.6% over 2019, with an average increase of 2.8% over the two years; imported coal of 320 million tons, an increase of 6.6% over the previous year, and the demand for coal continued to be strong. The Tariff and Classification Committee of the State Council issued an announcement of provisional import tax rate of zero for coal from May 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023 to guarantee energy supply and promote high-quality development. Imported coal that was originally subject to the MFN tax rate of 3%, 5% or 6% shall be subject to the provisional import tax rate of zero.

In recent years, the Eurasia Railway Logistics Company has attached great importance to the guarantee of energy supply, made every effort to promote the construction of the international logistics center for bulk commodities in the SCO Demonstration Area, promoted the import of coal, strengthened the guarantee of coal supply, and ensured the long-term stability of the energy supply chain. “Qilu” transported about 800 standard containers of imported coal from January to May, and is expected to transport about 2000 standard containers throughout the year, providing a safe and stable international logistics channel for coal import.

Next, Eurasia Railway Logistics Company will continue to give full play to the advantages of Shandong Hi-Speed Group and other shareholder units in terms of brand, finance and overseas markets, promote the normal and stable operation of energy train of the China-Europe Railway Express (Qilu), help Shandong in energy cooperation with countries along the “the Belt and Road”, and contribute to the safe and stable supply of national energy.