According to a circular drafted by 18 governmental agencies and China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT), the qualified freight companies including railway, road, water and air cargo businesses can carry out multimodal transport operations connecting different modes of transport either individually or in partnership with other companies.
No newly-added administrative approval measures will be targeted at businesses carrying out such operations, said the circular, adding that the nation aims at creating an open, unified and fair multimodal transport market.
Conditions should be created for more medium and long-distance freight to move from road transport to railways, cargo vessel and other transport modes.
This is a “strong reform signal” from the government to encourage development of multimodal transport. China’s road-dominated transport mode had low added value that require reforms, Wang Shuiping, an official with the MOT said.
Intermodal road-rail-water-air transport can help optimize China’s transport structure, alleviate traffic congestion and save land resources, said Li Muyuan, an expert with China Communications and Transport Association.
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