China has expanded its international air cargo network since the start of this year, launching nearly 70 new routes in the first four months as global trade and cross-border e-commerce drive demand.
According to the aviation logistics branch of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, a total of 21 new international air cargo routes were opened nationwide in April alone, bringing the total to 68 new routes and more than 160 additional weekly round-trip flights as of April 30.
New connections included 30 to Europe, 27 to Asia, nine to North America, and one each to South America and Africa, with goods focused on e-commerce, high-end manufacturing, high value-added products, and perishables. "Since last year, China's international air cargo routes have been growing very rapidly, and this fast growth trend has continued in the first four months of this year. This increasingly dense network of cargo routes reflects both the further improvement of China's global logistics channels and the growing resilience in China's supply chain," said Cui Zhongfu, chief economist of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.
China adds nearly 70 international air cargo routes in four months
A Pakistani scholar has stressed the importance of dialogue in resolving the conflict between the United States and Iran, as the two sides remain deadlocked over access to the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program.
In recent months, Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator between Washington and Tehran, pushing diplomacy as a path to ending the conflict.
In a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Rabia Akhtar, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lahore, affirmed Pakistan's role as a mediator but stressed that whether an agreement is reached and implemented ultimately rests with the two countries.
"Pakistan's role is valuable because keeping a channel open gives the parties somewhere to take those agreements. A mediator can clarify a proposal, explore a sequence of reciprocal steps, and help each side understand what the other might accept. But a mediator cannot make the commitments on their behalf. Ultimately, Washington and Tehran have to decide that an agreement serves their interests and that they are prepared to implement it," she said.
Throughout the conflict, she noted, leaders have publicly deployed strong rhetoric against the other side. Akhtar called on both parties to withdraw from such practices, as they make reaching an agreement all the more difficult.
"There's also the domestic political problem. If you have told your public that anything short of the other side's surrender will be a defeat, you have made your own diplomacy much harder. Leaders need room to explain that a negotiated outcome can protect national interest. And quiet diplomacy helps because it allows options to be explored before every proposal becomes a public test of resolve," she said.
As the need for dialogue over conflict grows, Akhtar highlighted the potential role of China's Global Security Initiative (GSI), which focuses on addressing the world's growing security challenges through cooperation, dialogue, and shared responsibility, and offers a framework for managing crises.
"So for me, the GSI's emphasis on dialogue is relevant to what happens between crises as well as during them. So we need communication that survives political disagreements and commitments, that gives both sides a reason to exercise restraint. We cannot simply wait for trust to appear before we start talking. We have to use dialogue to establish whether commitments can be tested and whether restraint can be reciprocated," the scholar said.
Dialogue essential to resolving US-Iran deadlock: Pakistani scholar
