Sea rail intermodal transportation promotes international logistics from "smooth" to "excellent" (picture)

The picture shows customs officers conducting on-site supervision and sealing of railway trains arriving at the port

Logistics is the 'backbone' of the real economy, connecting production and consumption, domestic and foreign trade. Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the regulatory mode of multimodal transportation of public, rail, sea and air in China has been increasingly improved, and sea rail intermodal transportation has made significant progress, becoming an important force in improving economic efficiency.

Recently, 122 containers loaded with hybrid cars were transported by railway from Zhengzhou Inland Port to Qingdao Port Qianwan Port Area of Shandong Port Group, and then loaded onto ships for shipment to the UK.

Previously, when exported goods arrived at the port yard, they had to wait for customs clearance before they could be consolidated and loaded onto ships for shipment, "said Guo Hongtao, Deputy General Manager of Henan Zhongyuan Shipping Logistics Co., Ltd." Through the 'land sea linkage, sea rail direct transportation' supervision mode launched by customs, the logistics time has been shortened by 24 hours, greatly saving our customs clearance time and costs, and making the eastward channel of Henan sea rail intermodal transportation more convenient

Sea rail intermodal transportation involves multiple modes of transportation and multiple operating entities, and efficient connection is key. Qingdao Customs upgraded the railway station to a "sea rail direct access checkpoint", eliminating the need for secondary port consolidation at checkpoints and connecting the "last mile" of railway entry into the port. At the same time, the "land sea linkage and sea rail direct transportation" model has been launched, allowing enterprises to complete inland freight train direct transportation, port direct loading, and original container loading and export with one full bill of lading, reducing transportation costs within the Yellow River Basin provinces by about 20%.

We actively promote the reform of the 'one order system' and 'one box system' for sea rail intermodal transportation, promote data exchange between inland ports and terminal operation systems in the Yellow River Basin, and extend the frontier functions of port cargo collection and loading to the inland, "said Liu Hongbo, Deputy Director of the Supervision Department of Huangdao Customs Port Supervision Office under Qingdao Customs.

Qingdao Port is the largest foreign trade port in northern China and the most convenient outlet for the Yellow River Basin. More than half of the exported goods from provinces such as Henan and Shaanxi go abroad through Qingdao Port, and sea rail intermodal transportation naturally becomes an important channel for these goods to go abroad.

We will continue to accelerate the connection between railways and ports, and take the lead in realizing the sea rail intermodal mode of 'front port, back station, integrated operation' in the country, accelerating the improvement of hard connectivity level. "Dai Xuechao, assistant manager of the sea rail intermodal center of Qingdao Port International Logistics Co., Ltd., introduced that in the first 11 months of 2025, Qingdao Port completed a sea rail intermodal volume of 2.625 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 11%, and continued to maintain the first place in the country. (Bi Wenbo/Wen)