Un train de marchandises sur la route de la soie

16 Décembre 2014 , Rédigé par Laurence B Publié dans #Économie

The Silk Railway: freight train from China pulls up in Madrid

Madrid mayor welcomes first cargo train from China after epic 8,111-mile (= plus de 13 000 kms) rail trip inaugurates the longest rail link in the world

The silk railway = le chemin de fer de la soie
To pull up = s’arrêter, stopper
A trip = un voyage, un trajet
A link = un lien, une liaison

The longest rail link in the world and the first direct link between China and Spain is up and running after a train from Yiwu in coastal China completed its maiden journey of 8,111 miles to Madrid. En route it passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France before arriving at the Abroñigal freight terminal in Madrid. The railway has been dubbed the “21st-century Silk Road” by Li Qiang, the governor of Zhejiang province, where Yiwu is located. Its route is longer than the Trans-Siberian railway and the Orient Express.
To complete = terminer
A maiden journey = un voyage inaugural
To pass through = traverser
To dub = surnommer
The “silk road” = la route de la soie

The first train was met by the mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, and Spain’s minister of public works, Ana Pastor. It consisted of 30 containers carrying 1,400 tonnes of cargo – mostly toys, stationery and other items for sale over Christmas across Europe. According to China’s ambassador to Spain, Zhu Banzao, it will return laden with wine, jamón and olive oil in time for the Chinese new year in February.
To carry = transporter
Mostly = principalement
Toys = des jouets
Stationery = de la papeterie (articles de bureau)
An item = un article
Laden with = chargé de
Wine = du vin

Yiwu is the world’s largest wholesale hub for small consumer goods and plays host to a vast 4 sq km (1.5 sq mile) market where tens of thousands of traders work daily. The journey was a test run to assess the viability of adding Spain to a route that already links China with Germany five times a week. Those trains link Chongqing, the huge industrial city in south-west China, with Duisburg, and Beijing with Hamburg.
A wholesale hub= un centre de vente en gros
To host = accueillir, recevoir
Sq km = kilomètre carré
Daily = au quotidien, chaque jour
To assess = estimer, évaluer
To link = relier
Huge = énorme

China is Spain’s biggest trading partner after the EU, with bilateral trade worth around £16bn. It is also Spain’s third largest source of imports, after Germany and France. About half of these imports are made up of mobile phones and clothing. The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, was in China in September, where he signed deals reported to be worth more than £6.3bn.
A trading partner = un partenaire commercial
Worth around = d’une valeur d’environ
To sign deals = signer des contrats
Bn = billion = milliard

A major advantage of the rail route is speed. The train took just three weeks to complete a journey that takes up to six weeks by sea. It is also more environmentally friendly than road transport, which would produce 114 tonnes of CO2 to shift the same volume of goods, compared with the 44 tonnes produced by the train – a 62% reduction.
Speed = la vitesse
To shift = déplacer, transiter

However, the cargo had to be transferred three times during the journey as a result of incompatible rail gauges. The locomotive also had to be changed every 500 miles. The service is being operated by InterRail Services and DB Schenker Rail and in Spain by DB’s Spanish offshoot, Tranfesa.
Rail gauges = des écartement de rails
Offshoot = filiale

At the welcoming ceremony, the mayor of Madrid pointed out that a majority of the city’s 30,000 Chinese residents hailed from Zhejiang province. Relations between Spain and China took a dive earlier this year when a judge sought international arrest warrants for former president Jiang Zemin and four top officials in relation to alleged genocide in Tibet. The Spanish parliament took barely 10 days to throw out the case.
The mayor = le maire
To point out = souligner, faire remarquer
To hail from = être originaire de
To take a dive = se rétamer, se dégrader
To seek – I sought – sought = chercher, rechercher
Arrest warrant = un mandat d’arrêt
Former = ancien, ex
Alleged = présumé
Barely = à peine, tout juste
To throw out = rejeter