China has opened for traffic its 3,181 km section of the new 8,445 km superhighway linking Asia to Europe. The highway will link the Chinese Yellow Sea port city of Lianyungang with the Russian Baltic Sea port of St. Petersburg, and is due to be completed in 2018. The four-lane highway is a key element of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s One Belt, One Road plans to build a modern transportation network between Asia and Europe. Goods are expected to take only 10 days to go between China and Europe on the new road, as opposed to 45 days by sea.
