A new express shipping route connecting north China's Hebei Province with the west coast of the United States has been launched, providing businesses in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region with quicker and more efficient access to the U.S. market. The route now offers the fastest maritime corridor between the region and the U.S. after shortening shipping times by over a week, with the quickest delivery time for products from north China to the U.S. now expected to take just 16 days.
The operator, Hede International Shipping, plans to send one cargo ship per week from the Hunaghua port in the coastal city of Cangzhou. The vessel will first stop at the Port of Shanghai before making a direct voyage across the Pacific to the Port of Los Angeles.
"The new freight route is faster, and we can reduce the stock volume by a week. As for logistics, it significantly lowers the cost of land and maritime transportation, which is good news for cross-border e-commerce sellers in Hebei because they can save about 30 to 40 percent of the transportation costs. Factories can also benefit from the fixed shipping schedule. They can arrange production based on the schedule every week, and accordingly provide an accurate date of arrival to their U.S. clients," said Wang Bo, an international freight forwarder.
New shipping route links northern China to US West Coast
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is "under total control" following violence linked to protests that spiked over the weekend.
Addressing foreign diplomats in Tehran, the foreign minister noted that armed terrorist groups had infiltrated the protests, attempting to divert them from their legitimate course. He claimed that evidence has been gathered showing Iranian security forces being shot at, with the aim of causing further casualties. He accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.
Araghchi further stated that the government is closely monitoring developments on the streets, emphasizing that "the situation has come under control." He also affirmed that internet services, curtailed during the unrest, would be restored after coordination with security agencies.
The government has engaged in dialogue with merchants and protest representatives and initiated reforms to address grievances related to price hikes and currency depreciation. Iran has taken a series of actions and measures to respond to the demands of peaceful demonstrators, the foreign minister said.
Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that clear evidence links recent riots and vandalism of public facilities in Iran to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. This came after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Mossad agents operating on Iran's streets in a social media post. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that police are being attacked by "terrorists" acting under the direction of Israeli operatives, whom Pompeo publicly acknowledged.
The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and U.S. sanctions.
Iranian foreign minister says situation "fully under control," accuses Israeli intelligence of stoking unrest
