This aerial photo shows a cargo ship at a smart container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China’s Tianjin, July 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

TIANJIN, July 12 (Xinhua) — A new direct mail shipping route has been opened between China’s Tianjin Municipality and Canada to meet the surging demand for international mail.

In the past, mail and parcels from northern China had to be transported by land to Guangzhou or Shanghai before being shipped to Canada.

The new direct route is expected to cut the transportation time by two to four days and greatly reduce delivery costs.

Tianjin plans to leverage its location advantages to expand its cross-border postal network to facilitate the mail shipping service further, said Wang Dong, head of the Tianjin Municipal Postal Administration.  ■