Following the collapse of the coal and steel industries, the west German city of Duisburg became synonymous with industrial decline and unemployment. Now, decades later, it is known as the world's largest inland port - in part, thanks to growing trade opportunities with China.

Geographical benefits

Located at the junction of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers and at the cross-section of several international motorways, cargo can be transported to and from Duisburg by waterway and truck. Added to that, direct train networks to and from Asia utilize the same rail infrastructure that used to carry coal around the continent. Today the city offers one of the only trimodal transportation terminals in the region, the Duisburg Intermodal Terminal (DIT).

Zhuo Li is in charge of Chinese Business Development for Contargo Group, which operates DIT. Li says Duisburg is a popular transportation hub for goods coming from China, as the terminal is connected directly to almost every European industrial center.

Li explains the city is also "located in the middle of an economic and industrial area. Within a 150-kilometer radius, there are 30 million consumers and their purchasing power is about 600 million euros ($581.49 million). And there are also 200,000 companies here."

Duisburg also boasts the largest container storage capacity in Europe.

The new silk road

All this has helped facilitate increased trade with China and encouraged a growing number of Chinese businesses to set up in the region, says Jinheng Feng, co-founder of Trouver Consulting, which focuses on helping small and medium-sized Chinese firms.

"We actually leverage a lot from the new silk road," he tells CGTN. "In the past five years, we have helped around 30 Chinese companies come to Duisburg and the area."

Since most of his customers are import and export related, the transportation options here are a huge reason why they choose Duisburg, he says.

"Duisburg is not as famous as Munich, Frankfurt or Berlin but everyone who wants to sell their products to Europe needs to find a way for transportation," he said. "That's also why some e-commerce companies would like to have a subsidy here in Duisburg or around (the area) so they can take up the opportunity of this transportation."

Noticeable Chinese presence

According to the city's Chinese affairs department, there are some 200 Chinese companies in Duisburg, all of whom have employees and family - rapidly growing the Chinese community here. The University of Duisburg-Essen has the highest number of Chinese students in the country, while more and more Chinese cultural elements are also noticeable, says Li.

"I can see that there are more Chinese companies, more Chinese people," she tells CGTN. "Just three weeks ago, Duisburg hosted a Chinese cultural festival in the city center to exhibit Chinese traditional music, songs, dance, writing, painting, food and so on."

The COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine measures still in place in China have had an impact on the influx of Chinese firms establishing in the region, says Feng, but he is certain things will pick up again. "Starting from spring, we got more and more inquiries. For us, this is a good trend. I think we will have more business."