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The China–Singapore International Land–Sea Trade Corridor (C-S-ILSTC) was officially proposed in 2018, under the government-to-government framework of the China–Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity. C-S-ILSTC is expected to play an important role in the international trade and connectivity between Western China and Southeast Asia, where Chongqing serves as the logistics hub in Western China, and Singapore is a transshipment hub for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. This paper aims to analyse the newly formed intermodal freight container transport network in the context of C-S-ILSTC and China–Singapore/ASEAN region quantitatively from both supply and demand sides, and investigate C-S-ILSTC's advantages and disadvantages. For the demand side analysis, the results show that the trade volume between China and ASEAN countries is forecasted to consistently increase in recent years, and the most commonly traded cargo types between China and ASEAN have also been identified. For the supply side analysis, we examine the infrastructure and development status of the essential nodes along C-S-ILSTC. In addition, we also compare C-S-ILSTC with the conventional intermodal container transport routes connecting Western China and Southeast Asia, and discuss the development prospect of C-S-ILSTC. The results of this study could provide policy implications for the development of C-S-ILSTC and the cooperation between China and ASEAN region. • Research on the newly formed intermodal freight container transport network • Quantitative analysis from both supply and demand sides • Investigate the advantages and disadvantages of C-S-ILSTC • Discuss the development prospect of C-S-ILSTC • Provide policy implications for C-S-ILSTC development and regional cooperation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, the concept of the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (Belt and Road)’ was initiated by the Chinese government, which involves Asian, European and African continents and their adjacent seas. Logistics plays a core role in such a large framework of economy and trade. In recent years, China, European Union, and Southeast Asia pay much attention to the design and development of the intermodal transportation network towards both economic and environmental efficiency. In this paper, we propose an empty container repositioning model in the intermodal transportation network of Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative by considering both standard and foldable containers. In this model, empty containers are repositioned from the inland of the original area, such as China, to other areas of B&R Initiative related countries and regions, such as European Union and Southeast Asia. We develop a mixed integer linear programming model to determine the optimal repositioning of empty containers via the intermodal transportation network. An Artificial Bee Colony algorithm is developed to solve large size problems in practice and numerical experiments are conducted to show the efficiency of our proposed algorithm. We provide managerial insights regarding the impact on the network performance of foldable containers transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As coastal production costs in China rise, producers are moving inland to remain competitive with other Asian countries. As a result, Chinese sea ports are rapidly developing dry (i.e., inland) ports to compete for hinterland access. Yet the growing body of research examining dry ports has yet to analyze China. This article ills this gap by combining practitioner interviews, publicly available data, and industry and academic literature to provide an overview of dry ports in China. The article discusses the recent active development of dry ports in China and summarizes the existing dry port network. Motivations for further dry port development are identified, including port competition, inland production, domestic consumption, logistics costs, and the environment. Challenges with dry port expansion such as rail, inland waterways, and actor coordination are reviewed, and opportunities for further research are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an intermodal network optimization model to examine the competitiveness of 36 alternative routings for freight moving from China to and beyond Indian Ocean. The proposed model, which is built upon the principles of goal programming, is able to handle multiple and conflicting objective functions such as minimizing transportation cost, transit time and transit time variability while ensuring flow continuity and transit nodes compatibility among the rail, road, ocean vessel, airplane and inland waterway transports. Transportation time and cost obtained from comprehensive industry sources are then fed into the intermodal transport network connecting two important Chinese origins and four Indian destinations, from which the most attractive routes are identified. In addition, the paper investigates several non-dominated transportation cases through sensitivity analysis tests, and analyzes the potential competitiveness and possible influences of future route developments to current transportation patterns in Asia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]