At the end of 2020, the trade turnover between the Benelux countries and China amounted to about USD 98 billion, of which USD 26.09 billion accounted for exports to China and USD 71.86 billion - for import.

The Red Sea crisis was a new challenge for maritime shipping, which begs the question of whether the maritime shipping market will be able to adapt to new circumstances or whether the unstable situation in the Red Sea will push shippers to switch to rail transport.