The European Union, China and the United States play the largest role in international trade, in terms of supplying products and as markets, and their trade relations largely determine the configuration of cargo flows in the international transport system.

The Eurasian landbridge has contributed to increased sustainable connectivity between the EU and China during the decade of the 2010s. Felicitously, this market-driven development preceded, and also complemented, major foreign economic policy announcements by China and the EU and reinforces their goal of increased connectivity. The resulting connectivity is likely to survive any bilateral political debacles because the economic foundation is strong