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An increasing number of Chinese exporters are turning to the Transports Internationaux Routiers system, a global road transportation network that enables trucks to carry goods across member countries without frequent border checks. This system offers a faster and more flexible logistics solution amid rising uncertainties in international trade.
The TIR service is nearly as quick as air shipping and costs roughly the same as rail freight, according to Xu Jianyong, who oversees TIR operations at Wenzhou Juxin Supply Chain Management’s international multi-modal transport hub. For e-commerce clients, delivery speed often outweighs freight costs.
Speed is the primary motivation behind companies opting for TIR. Zhejiang Xuyang Luggage, which previously relied mainly on sea freight or the China-Europe freight train, recently experimented with TIR to meet client demands for faster delivery. They found that shipments to Moscow, for example, are five times faster with TIR than by sea, which normally takes about 55 days, and three times faster than by rail, which usually takes around 30 days.
Chen Xinping, a hat exporter based in Yiwu, shared that all his company’s shipments to Central Asia now utilize TIR. After visiting the region in June, Chen began developing products more suited to local markets, and he expects exports to Central Asia to double this year.
Sales to Central Asia are projected to grow by 15 percent compared to last year, according to Ding Yandong, a supplier of door and window accessories in southeastern Zhejiang. Additionally, demand from emerging markets like South America is also surging sharply.
The TIR system, established under the United Nations’ Convention on the International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets, allows trucks to travel across 78 member countries without undergoing time-consuming border checks at each stop. Its unified international guarantee system enables goods to be transported with a simple declaration and direct route to the destination, eliminating vehicle changes, cargo transfers, and inspections along the way.
Rapid Adoption
China’s Customs Administration began full implementation of the TIR Convention in 2019, but the system only started functioning commercially in 2023, leading to a swift uptake.
Manzhouli Land Port, located on the Russian border and one of the first pilots for TIR, now operates 18 routes, including connections between Zhengzhou and Moscow and Qingdao and Yekaterinburg.
In the first half of the year, nearly 700 TIR trucks were processed through Manzhouli—more than four times the volume from the previous year. These shipments carried goods worth approximately CNY 890 million (around USD 124.1 million), nearly ten times higher than last year.
From January to July, Rui’an in Zhejiang Province, the first city in southern China to launch TIR, dispatched 43 shipments valued at CNY 26 million (around USD 3.6 million). The TIR model has since expanded to other cities including Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Yiwu.
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