CNN: China bending its knee$$$$
Citing Iranian sources, Reuters reported Friday that Chinese officials asked their Iranian counterparts at several recent meetings to help rein in the Houthis or risk harming business relations with Beijing.
“Basically, China says: ‘If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint,’” one Iranian official briefed on the talks told Reuters.
Like many global shipping firms, Chinese state-owned shipping giants COSCO and OOCL diverted dozens of ships from the Red Sea to a much longer route around the southern tip of Africa, according to data compiled by Kuehne + Nagel, a logistics company based in Switzerland. Such detours typically add more than 10 days to the journey, delaying deliveries and sending shipping costs soaring.
San Francisco-based global logistics firm Flexport says historically 90% of cargo shipped from China to Europe would have moved through the Red Sea, but now 90% of that traffic is taking a detour around Africa.
Due to the disruption, ocean freight rates from Shanghai to Europe surged more than 300% between November to January, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange – posing a big challenge to Chinese exporters in an already slowing economy.
The pressure to act may be coming from China’s regional partners too.