Trains laden with German machinery and industrial components depart from Duisburg, Hamburg or Leipzig several times a week bound for markets and manufacturing plants in China.
Sending goods via the 11,000km trans-Siberian route is much cheaper than air freight and takes a little over two weeks — about twice as fast as shipping the containers by sea. Trains bearing Chinese textiles, electronics and consumer goods journey back the other way.
As China’s stock market sinks and its economy slows these deep trade links are an increasing source of concern in Germany: Europe’s biggest economy is reliant on exports and has been a particular beneficiary of China’s sustained boom.