From the docks of Piraeus to the freight terminals of Duisburg, Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative is strengthening trading connections across Europe. The benefits are real — but uneven.
The most revealing map of Chinese influence in Europe might be a railway timetable.
Follow the containers from the Mediterranean into the Balkans, or westwards across Eurasia towards Germany, and a different picture emerges from the familiar diplomatic arguments. Ports, warehouses and railway terminals are connecting European cities more closely to China’s economy.
These connections sit at the heart of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013 to develop infrastructure and trade links across continents. For European cities, the attraction is straightforward: investment, freight business and a stronger position on international trading routes.
But which cities are actually benefiting?
There is an important distinction to make first. Some projects predate the Belt and Road label. Others involve Chinese commercial investment without being straightforward BRI schemes. Beijing’s initiative brings many of these connections under one political umbrella; it did not create every railway or business relationship beneath it.
Piraeus: Europe’s maritime gateway
Piraeus, the Greek port beside Athens, is one of the clearest examples of Chinese investment strengthening a European transport hub.
Chinese shipping group COSCO’s involvement began before the BRI: its container-terminal concession dates from 2009. It acquired 51% of Piraeus Port Authority in 2016 and increased its holding to 67% in 2021. Those dates show how an existing commercial relationship became central to China’s wider infrastructure strategy. Piraeus Port Authority milestones
The geography explains the appeal. For ships arriving through the Suez Canal, Piraeus provides a Mediterranean entry point from which goods can travel towards central Europe.
There is measurable commercial success here. Piraeus Port Authority reported revenue of €230.9 million for 2024, up 5%, alongside record net profits. Those figures cover several port activities, so they should not be read as a measure of BRI-generated container business alone. Nevertheless, they demonstrate a commercially successful port at the centre of China’s European logistics network. PPA’s 2024 financial results
For the surrounding economy, the opportunity lies in handling cargo, supplying ships, maintaining equipment and moving goods inland. The harder question is how much of that value reaches local workers and businesses. A profitable port is evidence of commercial gains; it is not, by itself, proof that everyone living nearby is better off.
Duisburg: an inland city with an international reach
Duisburg shows that a city does not need a coastline to become a gateway to China.
Its first direct freight train from Chongqing arrived in March 2011, two years before Xi announced the BRI. In December 2024, Duisburg welcomed the 100,000th journey in the wider China–Europe freight-train network — a network-wide milestone, rather than 100,000 trains serving Duisburg alone. Duisport’s account of the milestone
The benefit comes from what happens around the train. Containers need unloading, storing, clearing through customs and distributing to their final destinations. Each stage creates business for the logistics sector.
Duisburg’s established transport connections give it an advantage: Chinese freight can join a much wider European distribution system. The city is gaining business by connecting networks, with the BRI reinforcing a role that local infrastructure and companies had already helped build.
Its expanding facilities reflect that ambition. Duisport’s 2024 annual report describes the Duisburg Gateway Terminal as a development with a planned annual handling capacity of 360,000 standard container units. This serves broader freight markets, and should not be attributed entirely to China trade. Duisport annual report
Łódź: building business around the railway
In central Poland, Łódź offers another example of a city turning its inland location into a commercial advantage.
Its regular freight connection with Chengdu began in 2013. Research into the relationship found that the service attracted users including Dell, Gillette, P&G and Hutchinson, connecting the railway to established manufacturing and supply chains. Research on Łódź–China cooperation
That is where the practical benefit lies. Manufacturers gain another transport option, while logistics businesses gain work handling and distributing goods. The historical evidence supports Łódź’s importance in developing these connections, although it does not establish how much of the city’s present-day prosperity can be credited to the BRI.
There is also a vulnerability shared by several European rail hubs: dependence on borders far beyond their control. The closure of the Polish–Belarusian border in September 2025 halted China-linked freight-train connections serving Liège, demonstrating how quickly political decisions can interrupt the wider network. Belga’s report on the disruption
A railway can shorten commercial distances while leaving businesses exposed to considerable geopolitical ones.
Budapest and Belgrade: a stronger southern corridor
Budapest and Belgrade occupy a different stage of the story. Their upgraded railway offers tangible transport improvements, while the full economic return remains something to assess over time.
Serbia’s transport ministry identifies the railway as part of the connection between Piraeus and markets across south-eastern and central Europe. This makes the two capitals important links in the same trading corridor as the Greek port. Serbian transport ministry project description
Rail Cargo Group reports that regular freight services on the modernised Budapest–Belgrade line began in February 2026. The upgraded route provides greater capacity and more predictable operations. Around Budapest, trains arriving from the south can reach the BILK terminal without passing through the busy Ferencváros railway hub. Rail Cargo Group’s operational update
These are concrete benefits for freight operators and their customers. More reliable journeys and simpler terminal access can make a route more attractive.
Whether that produces a good overall return depends on the volume of business it attracts, operating costs and financing obligations. Better infrastructure creates an opportunity; sustained demand determines its value.
Who benefits when a city becomes a gateway?
The strongest European BRI stories involve cities with useful geography, established businesses and infrastructure that Chinese trade can help put to work.
Piraeus gains from its maritime position. Duisburg connects international trains with European distribution networks. Łódź links freight services to manufacturing. Budapest and Belgrade are strengthening a southern route into central Europe.
Yet the distinction between investment promises and delivered benefits matters. Liège provides a useful comparison from the broader Chinese logistics economy. Cainiao’s airport hub created 276 declared jobs, according to a Walloon ministerial response in October 2025. Further expansion plans were subsequently reported as cancelled. Existing employment remained valuable, even as the larger vision fell short. Walloon Parliament response, Belga’s expansion report
Europe’s cities have something to gain from trading with China. Judging those gains requires looking beyond opening ceremonies to the work, revenue and useful infrastructure left behind.
Xi’s New Silk Road has helped some European cities become more important places through which goods travel. The lasting achievement will be turning that traffic into better livelihoods for the people who live there.
Leave a Reply