
DUISBURG, Germany -- Japanese companies are jumping on the bandwagon of China's Belt and Road Initiative in search of fresh business opportunities.
Cargo rail between Europe and China has exploded from fewer than 20 runs in 2011 to around 3,000 last year. The German industrial city of Duisburg, a stop on the trans-Eurasian route, symbolizes the network's development over the past few years. Colorful containers of red, blue and green were recently seen filling a more than 200,000-sq.-meter cargo terminal there.