Continental routes for the delivery of goods from China to Europe and back over the past decade have come a long way, from test train shipments to the creation of stable, full-fledged railway container transportation routes. 

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