Belgium's Liege airport a center for European pandemic freight distribution

A large quantity of preventive goods donated by Chinese organizations, including masks and test kits, are being transported to Belgium's Liege airport and will be delivered to other parts of Europe.

Among the few airfreight airports that are operational 24/7 across Europe, Liege airport has handled 6.4 million masks, over 200,000 protective garments, 200,000 face shields and 610,000 test kits for novel coronavirus, all of which come from China, according to Cainiao, Alibaba's smart logistics arm, which established a warehouse there in 2018 to facilitate cross-border business.

These donations, coming from various Chinese entities, leverage the geographical advantage of Belgium as a hub connecting other economies in the continent, said Wang Dandi, a manager at Cainiao's Liege warehouse, which is just 3 kilometers from the airport.

She mentioned that Slovenia even dispatched military aircraft to fetch donated goods from China. The administrative green light was given in just one day by the local customs authorities.

"People at the receiving end also highly cherish these donations," said Wang. "For instance, our couriers normally keep us informed of their locations and the estimated time of arrival for these life-saving goods to reach the hospitals."

All donations are being delivered to their final destinations within 24 hours upon their arrival in Liege, she added, despite a labor shortage at the warehouse due to restriction measures introduced to curb the virus' further spread in Europe.

Air cargo transportation is available in more than 100 countries and regions from the end of March to the end of April, as Cainiao claims it is one of the few global logistics networks whose operations have not been affected by the contagion.

Powering the operation of Cainiao is a dedicated public service platform in to streamline custom clearance procedures for cross-border trade. The portal allows merchants, warehouse operators and logistics companies from both China and Europe to conduct real-time inquiries concerning the location of parcels being handled and transported.

"One highlight is the computerized and cloud-computing backed capabilities that allow us to inform transporters, logistics, and the customs authorities to go through the process as soon as possible," said Michel Kempeneers, chief operating officer of overseas export at Investment of Wallonia Export and Foreign Investment Agency, told China Daily in an interview last month.

This is also part of the electronic World Trade Platform that Alibaba proposed to facilitate cross-border trade for notably small businesses. "We get to share this model with others as the best practice that can be promoted to other countries in the world," Kempeneers said.