Hyundai Glovis is forging ties with a Chinese logistics company to expand and strengthen its logistics business from China to Europe, the firm said Wednesday.

As part of the partnership deal, China’s Changjiu Logistics has bought from Hyundai Glovis a 30 percent stake in Adampol, a Poland-based company that Hyundai Glovis acquired in 2014.

Hyundai said the two companies will join forces to launch a new railroad transport brand, dubbed ECT, or Euro China Train. As shipping costs are spiking amid the COVID-19 pandemic, railroad transshipment is rising as an alternative for goods transportation, the logistics arm of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group explained.

Changjiu Logistics, based in Beijing, is the biggest private automotive logistics service provider in China. It was established in 1997, and transports about 4,100 forty-foot equivalent units, including about 10,000 units of complete vehicles in block trains from China to Europe, annually.

The company’s total sales in 2019 were about 7 trillion won ($6.24 billion).

Hyundai said it hopes to create synergies with Changjiu Logistics in transport, using the railroad transshipment infrastructure it has in Europe.

Adampol operates a train terminal equipped with a freight transshipment system in Malaszewicze, Poland.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)