A caravan of trucks loaded with goods left Beijing on Tuesday bound for Brussels in a pilot project that aims to revive overland trading routes from China to Europe.

The expedition is part of the nation's efforts to promote barrier-free transport on the "Euro-Asian trans-continental land bridge," between China and Europe and rekindle the spirit of the ancient Silk Road.

Expected to reach its final destination on October 17, the Beijing-Brussels Caravan will pass through Astana, Moscow, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw and Berlin.

"The aim of the project is to demonstrate that the barrier-free intercontinental transport of goods by road is workable," Yao Mingde, president of the Chinese Road Transport Association, said.

The project was initiated by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific as part of the ongoing Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference, which opened in Beijing on Monday.

As a consequence of globalization, road transport links do not stop at frontiers of continents, Martin Marmy, IRU's secretary-general, told the conference.

"Road transport services should complete and in certain cases replace the dominant mode of sea transport in intercontinental traffic," Marmy said.

Robust trade growth between China and Europe has increased demand for road transport, but barriers still exist.

Preconditions for achieving trans-continental road transport include sound infrastructure, a legal framework that can be accepted by all concerned and a detailed implementation procedure, said Ju Chengzhi, a senior official from the Ministry of Communications.

(China Daily September 28, 2005)