China planning high-speed rail freight network to help e-commerce sector
- The country already has an extensive high-speed passenger network and is now looking to develop new goods trains
- Rail bosses believe demand from online retailers will help drive the development of the network
China’s state-owned railway operator is planning to accelerate the development of a high-speed freight network in the hope of bolstering the e-commerce network.
A development plan published in mid-August also includes plans to further expand the passenger network and build an advanced control system that will integrate home-grown technologies such as 5G telecommunications, the Beidou satellite navigation system and artificial intelligence.
China has ambitions to become a world leader in rail transport and earlier this month the Ministry of Transport indicated that it would redouble its efforts to develop a network of maglev trains, which can reach speeds of up to 600km an hour (370mph).
But the cost of freight transport is currently estimated to be around twice that of countries such as Japan and the United States – something the 15-year development plan published by China State Railway Group is designed to address. President Xi Jinping has also identified high logistics costs as a barrier to economic development.
Huang Qifan, the former mayor of the southwestern metropolis Chongqing and deputy director of a government think tank, wrote in an article published in an official journal last month that China’s logistics costs amount to 15 per cent of GDP, almost double those of the US, Europe and Japan.