In order to offer a more comprehensive service to shippers and importers in the Philippines, Evergreen Line will team up with Cheng Lie Navigation(CNC) to launch the new China-Philippines Service (CPH).
Two ships around 1,000 TEU will be deployed on the new weekly service, each operated by the joint service partners. The first sailing on the CPH service will be from Shanghai on December 11th and the port rotation is as follows:
Shanghai - Ningbo - Xiamen - Shekou - Manila (South harbor) -Shanghai.
The new service is in addition to the four feeder loops, which Evergreen offers serving the Philippines. This comprehensive coverage of all major ports in the Philippines, includes Manila (both north and south harbors), Cebu, Davao and General Santos, etc. All services connect to Evergreen's global network via either Kaohsiung and/or Hong Kong.
According to statistics published by China's General Administration of Customs, the amount of bilateral trade between China and ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) increased by 8.9% during the first ten months of 2014. In particular, China's imports and exports to/from the Philippines showed an even stronger growth of 17.1%.
ASEAN member states have held several rounds of trade talks with China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Australia and India for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and aimed to conclude the negotiations by the end of 2015. As a positive indication of future trade growth, this initiative is expected to significantly benefit the further development of Intra-Asia trades.